


Seeing Love Dogs

by ClarySage (ClaryTehSage)



Series: BBBD & SLD [2]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:49:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaryTehSage/pseuds/ClarySage
Summary: The Following Fic Contains: 1x2/2x1, sequel-lyness, lemony things, A rug, a wardrobe, the bathroom, and other things...





	1. Chapter 1

We’d decided after two days of rest, and me trying to pick up a few basic Djinni skills, that it was time to move on. Though we still hadn’t decided where it was we were going. It was just an urge to be gone from that hotel room, perhaps just to have a change of scene.

I managed to get the last of my shirts inside the bag I was packing and zipped it up, tossing it on the floor next to my backpack. Where the hell had Heero got to? I checked the bathroom, then checked under the bed, inside the closet, and then opened up the door to peer down the hall. No Djinni bastards anywhere. I decided to shrug it off and recheck the bathroom to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, and there he was.

"How’d you get in here? I was here five seconds ago." I gave him a curious look, and leaned back against the sink counter where he sat.

"I was checking something."

"Like?"

"My baggage."

I glanced around at the empty bathroom. Except for a few towels and bath products, there had never been anything in there but my stuff. "Your baggage?"

He nodded, pulling out a small black bag from the pants he had on. Holding it up by the little drawstring, he jiggled it and then handed it to me.

It was strangely heavy, despite being so small. It was about the size of a jewelry bag, the cloth it was made from felt strange, almost rubbery, yet velvety. "Can I open it?"

"Yes. But be careful." He watched as I tugged open the drawstring and peered inside. There was nothing in it.

I raised an eyebrow and started to tip it over in my palm to see if anything would fall out.

"Don’t!" Heero grabbed my hand and carefully tilted it upright again. "Here," He took the tiny bag and pulled me so that I stood in front of him. "It’s a spelled bag, when you open it you have to say the right words in order to see its contents."

I tilted my head, watching as he closed the bag and then pulled the strings so that it opened again. He said a word softly in that foreign liquid language I’d heard him use before, and suddenly brightly colored strings appeared around the lip of the bag, hanging into the blackness of it. "What are those? They weren’t there before."

I felt him nod behind me. "They’re markers, so that you may find what you’ve put into the bag."

"Markers? What, is it like a bottomless pit?"

He tugged one of the strings, slowly pulling it out. "It is much like what was inside my bottle. Nothingness." He kept pulling that brightly colored string, and pulling, and pulling. I put a hand on the edge of the bag and tried to look in. I still couldn’t see a thing. And then, there was something coming out of the darkness of the bag, a shape, as it got closer I realized it was huge. I backed up, bumping into Heero and scooting behind him to peer around his side. "What is it?"

He chuckled, tugging a bit harder. "My wardrobe."

I started to laugh. "You’re kidding right? Not a wardrobe like in ‘The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe’?"

"What is that?" He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"A book, but, you really don’t mean a wardrobe like a big, heavy, possibly wooden one do you?"

"Yes, like that." He grinned, "You might want to move out of this room, it’s a rather large piece of furniture."

I moved, doing a sideways, nervous little walk all the way. "Don’t break anything ok?"

He nodded absently, still tugging that string. I stood beside the bathroom door watching, as from the small bag he tugged a giant wood wardrobe out, and carefully laid it on the floor. It was most definitely an antique, though I couldn’t tell you what kind or what era. It was nice-looking though, just the kind of thing you would think C.S. Lewis had in mind. Heero opened it and stepped back, and I inched forward to take a look.

There were tons of different types of clothes inside, suits and shirts, ties, shoes, pants, even a few dresses. "You had this with you all along?"

"Yes, I find it useful to keep around." He stood beside me and burrowed his hands in, searching for something.

"Does that bag have other stuff? And how do you know which string leads to what?" I sat down on the floor, watching him search through the clothes.

"The bag contains many items I’ve found helpful. And the string tells you what is attached to it." He lifted out two long grey robes; they had an odd sheen to them. He held one out to me.

"What is it? I mean, I see it’s a robe, but why do I get one?" I stood up and tugged the robe over my head, noting that it had a hood. Then shrugged and took it back off, folding it over my arm.

"It is for traveling."

"I’ve been meaning to ask you, how are we traveling? Plane? Boat? And where are we going?"

"Rug, and we are going to visit an old friend."

I blinked a few times, thinking I must have misheard. "Rug? And wouldn’t umm, wouldn’t all your friends be a bit old now?" He had after all, been living for several millennia, I imagined anyone he had known was long since dead.

"Yes, rug. That’s what the robe is for. And yes, an old friend." He shut the wardrobe doors, and held up the bag, the long, bright string still dangling out of it.

"How do you get this thing back in?" I asked, tapping the heavy wooden piece of furniture.

"Like this." He held up the bag a little higher, whispering another word in that odd language and the wardrobe shrank down to the size of a pea. I knelt down, picking it up. It was a tiny, perfect replica. Heero extended his hand and I passed the miniscule thing to him. Tying on the string, he tossed it back into the bag and the string flew down inside after it.

I rubbed my head for a moment, and then beamed at him. "Can that thing hold my bags?"

"Yes."

"Good." I went and retrieved my bags, handing them over and watching as he shrank them and tied some string to the little handles. They followed the wardrobe into the black depths of the bag. "So where’s the rug and when do we leave?"

He didn’t say anything for a moment. "Heero?"

He sighed, leaning back against the sink ledge and looking anywhere but at me. "We have to go buy one."

"Can’t you just create one? Don’t you have one in that bag?" I sat beside him again, bringing my legs up and wrapping my arms around them.

"Things created by magic are not good for applying spells to. And no, the bag does not have a rug."

"Why not?"

"The last one is old, it has holes, and... " He looked at me and turned somewhat red. "And I can’t seem to find it."

"Ah, well then, I guess it’s a good thing we’re in Istanbul. I do believe Turkey is well known for its rugs." I smiled, grabbing his hand and jumping off the counter. "Let’s go. How big a carpet do we need?"

He shoved the little black bag into his pocket again, and followed me out of the bathroom. "Big enough to hold a group of people comfortably."

I stopped, turning around and raising an eyebrow, my hand still reaching for the door that led out of the hotel room. "A group of people? Planning a party or something?"

His smile was slow and wicked, and made me blush down to my toes. "Don’t you want to be able to lie down on it?"

"Oohh." I didn’t say anything and tugged open the door, giving the hotel room one last glance, it had been a place for a lot of changes in my life. But I didn’t think I would miss it. "Lying down is good." I said as the door shut behind us. "Though I like sitting too."

***

Heero has mentioned to me before that he speaks all languages. He wasn’t kidding, he’s fluent in them. I watched in absolute astonishment as he haggled with a stallholder, in Turkish. Apparently, Heero was not thrilled with the price the unfortunate rug seller was asking for.

You wouldn’t think that a Djinni would be so conscious of things like cost, but mine was. He was also a nitpicker when it came to what type of rug to buy. He wanted silk, Persian silk to be exact. If you have no idea just how expensive these rugs can be, I suggest trying to buy one some time.

After fifteen minutes of listening to them haggling, I decided to duck out and go get some nice, thick Turkish coffee from a stall down the way. When I came back, Heero was standing outside the carpet stall holding a large rolled up rug tucked under his arm.

"So you finally quit haggling and bought one?" I’d left him a credit card, amazed to find that I could charge something in a rug-selling stall.

"Yes."

"Heero, why do you look so... pleased with yourself?" He had a smug look on his face, and kept glancing towards the entrance to the booth.

"I didn’t like that man." He said, sneering at the stall.

"You didn’t, uh, do anything? Did you?" I went to the entrance of the place and peered in. No rug seller in sight. "Oh no, what did you do to him?"

"I gave him a lesson for trying to cheat me." He crossed his arms, leaning on the rug he’d bought.

I waited patiently.

"I turned him into a cockroach."

"You what?!" Several people turned around from their shopping to look at me, I grabbed Heero’s arm and hustled him back into the stall. "What did you do that for? You can’t go around turning people into things. He might have had a family or something. Can you change him back? Where is he?"

He gestured vaguely at the rugs and carpets piled high within the interior of the stall. "He’s somewhere in here, or he was a few minutes ago. I really don’t see what the problem is." He looked genuinely puzzled, settling down on a pile of bright wool carpets by the register.

"Heero," I sighed and sat beside him. "You just can’t go doing things like that to people now a days. There’s police and governments looking out for these people. They notice when someone is missing, and then they start looking for who did it. You might as well just have murdered him."

"Well," He looked sheepish for a moment. "I can bring him back, but he won’t like it."

"Why not? At least he’ll be human. Right?"

"He’ll be human, but he will not have forgotten being a cockroach either."

"Oh." That could be a small problem. I wondered if the police might have ever heard of such a complaint. ‘I swear officer he turned me into a cockroach’. I shook my head at the mental image, smiling in spite of myself. "Then change him back to human and let’s get out of here."

I stood up, and went outside to make sure our rug hadn’t disappeared. It hadn’t, so I unrolled it a little and eyed the design while waiting. A few seconds went by and then I heard a high-pitched shriek followed by a thump. Heero came out looking smug.

You didn’t kill him did you?" I asked worriedly, peering behind him.

"No, he fainted."

"Ah." I raised an eyebrow. "Is it really so bad being a cockroach?"

"Do you really want to find out?" He leaned close, smiling and showing a bit too many teeth.

"Um, no. Thanks. Can we go now?"

"Lead and I shall follow." He said, waving his arm magnanimously towards the pathway between booths and stalls.

"You’re in an awfully good mood all of a sudden." I stepped out of his way as he swung the rug over his shoulder and began walking.

"It’s been too long since I have gotten to do that to someone." He grinned.

"Could you try not to do it too much more?" I asked, struggling not to smile back at him.

"Your wish is my... "

"Heero!"

He chuckled, and took my hand as we kept walking.


	2. Chapter 2

"Heero?" I turned towards him. "Why are we standing in an alleyway?"

"I need to teach the rug." He laid the large carpet on the ground and began unrolling it.

"Ok. I can understand that, but why an alley?"

"We need privacy."

"Ah, and we already checked out of the hotel."

"We couldn’t have done this there either."

I tilted my head, watching as he paced the length of the rug. "Why not?"

"Not enough space, we’ll need some take off room."

"I see." I glanced up to the mouth of the alley, no one in sight. I looked up and noticed the lack of windows. The sun was getting high overhead, fast approaching noon. It was getting hot in that alley. "How long should this take?"

"A few minutes." He knelt in front of one end of the rug and laid his hand on it, fingers spreading out.

"Heero?" I’d just realized what he’d said.

"Mm?" He shifted and put his other hand on the rug.

"How can you teach a rug anything? It’s not alive." I walked around so that I stood on the other end of the stretched out carpet and glanced across it at him.

"It will be alive soon enough."

I laughed. "You’re going to bring a carpet to life?"

"Everything is alive already, in its own way. This is merely taking it a step further. I will tell the carpet it truly is alive, and it will be." He said, flexing his fingers and glancing up at me.

"If you say so." I sat down and watched.

"I do."

I waited for something magical to happen as he started to talk in that language he’d used earlier. I was expecting a shower of sparks or maybe a nice magical glow, but none of that happened. Instead, he just kept whispering.

A few minutes passed and still nothing happened. I sighed and leaned back on my hands, my foot brushing the rug. And it moved. The rug actually twitched, like a live animal. I glanced at Heero who was still whispering, head down. Carefully I crept closer and petted the carpet. It writhed like a cat and bumped my hand as if asking for more. I grinned, this was too neat. I peered at Heero, he was still busy.

I slid my hand underneath the rug and started scratching it. It nuzzled my fingers and I started to laugh. It was just so unreal, it really had come alive.

"Duo, don’t pet the rug please. I am endeavoring to teach it how to fly right now."

"Oh," I jerked my hand out from beneath the rug and smiled apologetically, "Sorry."

"It’s alright, just do not do it now. The rug cannot concentrate, you were distracting it."

I realized just how odd that was. The rug was trying to concentrate. First off, a rug even trying anything other than lying on a floor was a strange thing. But when you added to it that the rug was also trying to learn to fly...

I leaned back on my hands again, careful to keep my feet away from the little tassels at the end of the carpet. Though, I could’ve sworn that they wiggled, trying to get closer to me.

***

Fifteen minutes later, Heero finally finished ‘teaching’ the carpet to fly. I shook my head as he stood up and dusted off his knees, while the carpet squirmed on the ground at my feet.

"Is it done?"

"Yes." He nodded, watching the carpet wiggle and inch towards my shoes. He frowned. "I think it likes you."

"And I like it." I stood up, leaning down to stroke the fluttering tassels. The rug writhed and bumped my hand. "It’s cute, like a kitten or something."

"Are you ready to go?" He looked slightly disgruntled.

"Sure. Is it ok to walk on it? It won’t hurt it will it?" I hesitantly put a foot on the carpet and it wrapped around my legs, wriggling and twisting me onto it and settling me down in the middle of it. "Guess not." I gasped out, having been a little unnerved and somewhat breathless by the time I managed to sit up.

"Hm." Heero’s frown deepened and he stepped onto the rug beside me.

"How do we steer? Or do we?"

"The rug guides itself." He sat down beside me, and then tapped the rug sharply, glaring at it.

"How does it know where to go?" I laid a soothing hand on the rug, and idly pet it.

"It has a map." He looked over at me and smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Heero, a carpet cannot own a map, let alone look at one."

"Have you noticed the pattern of this rug yet?" He patted the design beneath my hand.

I looked down, and kept looking. I tilted my head and stared. I didn’t see anything that looked like a map. I glanced at Heero curiously. "I don’t see it."

"Try standing up and looking down." He said, still smiling that little ‘I know something you don’t’ smile.

I stood up and looked at the rug. Slowly, like a puzzle fitting into place, I realized that all those little colors and lines that I thought were merely some abstract textile pattern, formed an image. "It’s the world. I never noticed this when we bought it." I sat down again, hugging my knees. "Was it there before?"

"Yes, that is one of the reasons I wanted this particular carpet."

"So the rug... what? Senses the map or something?"

"Exactly, it knows its own shape and texture, it knows itself more perhaps than a human knows itself."

"Hey, watch it with the name calling. You’re part human now too," I glared at him and he smiled.

"I know, I merely meant it as an example."

"So how do we tell it where to go?"

"Just tell it."

"And where are we going anyway? You haven’t told me yet. You’re actually being very secretive Heero."

He shifted and opened a shopping bag that held some fruit we’d bought earlier. Pulling out the two grey robes, he handed me one. "Put this on."

I shrugged and slid it over my head without bothering to stand up. "Why do we have to wear these things?" The soft grey robe pooled around me, surprisingly light and comfortable even in the heat of the day.

"You ask too many questions."

I glared at him again. He sighed and turned towards me, pulling the other robe down over his head.

"The robes will reflect any sort of vision from seeing us, the rug has been enchanted the same way. If you take off the robe, people will be able to see you. The enchantment however, will never wear off the rug, and it will always go unnoticed by most even if not in flight."

"Ok, and where are we going?"

"To Greece, Athens actually."

"Why there?"

He sighed again but answered never the less. "It was the last place I knew my friend to be. And before you ask," he held up a hand, "I do not know if he is still alive, or there. But if he is I will find him."

"Alright, I guess if that’s all the information you’re willing to give me, I’ll just have to deal with it." I turned away, looking at the alley wall for a moment. I wasn’t at all happy about not knowing whom we were going to see. An old friend could be anybody, maybe even an old lover. I cut off that thought and stared at my hand as I began stroking the soft carpet again.

I heard him whisper to the rug. "Athens, Greece."

The carpet stiffened suddenly, little tremors running along it almost like it was an excited racehorse. It reared back, pawing at the air with its tassels and I started to giggle. Then it began galloping down the alley, and I held on for dear life. "We should of put on seatbelts!" I yelled.

The carpet gave a giant leap, and we were airborne. It swiftly ascended into the sky, climbing almost vertically into the air. I was clinging onto the tassels and Heero equally as hard. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Heero grinning like a maniac. Any minute I expected him to yell ‘woohooo!’ or something likewise as absurd.

After an endless amount of time, we finally flattened out, the carpet speeding through the air horizontally at last. I remained glued to it, face down, the wind buffeting against me.

Suddenly the wind cut off and it was quiet around us. I looked up and then sat up. "What happened?"

"I asked the rug to use its traveling shields." Heero leaned back onto his elbows stretching his legs out in front of himself, I noticed he’d taken off his shoes at some point, and smiled at him.

"Kind of like power windows and climate control." I laughed, sitting down next to him and watching as the landscape skimmed below. "Too bad you can’t let in a little bit of a breeze though." I said, leaning over and peering a bit further over the edge.

"Ah, but we can." He bent down and whispered to the carpet and a slight breeze blew against my face.

"Much better." I glanced at the bag that rested beside him. "Any more cherries left in there?" I asked, nodding my head towards it.

He dug around inside it for a moment then held out a handful of fresh, ripe cherries.

"Traveling food." I grinned at him, taking the handful of cherries and sliding up to the front of the carpet to peer over the edge of it and watch the world unfold below.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Following Fic part Contains: 1x2/2x1, AU, yaoi, seduction, sequel-lyness, lemon, a rug, flying, a sea, and other things...

It was roughly three hundred miles from Istanbul to Athens. The rug went fast, but three hundred miles was still a long way off. I’d gotten bored with the scenery after about an hour of traveling. It had all turned into sun drenched water and the occasional island. I checked the map that was the rug, and found us to be over the Aegean Sea. Every now and then, we would pass over a fishing boat and even once a cruise ship. No one seemed to notice the large rug flying through the sky, and to my great relief no missiles or helicopters came after us, which meant that whatever shields the carpet had, worked.

I was musing, thoroughly; mentally gnawing on something that had been bothering me for a couple of days. It was Heero, well, it wasn’t him. Or to be more precise, it was him; it was just what he hadn’t been doing lately.

We hadn’t been together since I had come back from the past. Which to me had only been about three days ago. Unfortunately, for him it was five hundred years ago. So, for the past three days he’d been flirting with me, stealing the occasional kiss, holding my hand, once he even patted my rear as we walked. But, it wasn’t sex, and that’s what I wanted, mostly because I still craved him like it was going out of style. After three months of having him inside me nearly every night, the sudden lack was driving me crazy.

I couldn’t seem to grasp why he would so suddenly not want to be with me. I mean, we were finally even, or at least both Djinni. Maybe he was being shy. This, all though it sounded strange, made a peculiar sort of sense. It had after all been five hundred years for him, maybe he was nervous. I chuckled to myself. Heero being nervous? Yeah right. Idly I wondered how many more hours of travel we had before reaching Athens, and then some sneaky part of my mind wondered if it was long enough for a little seduction.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him watching the horizon, probably wondering if his friend was still in Athens. I wondered what sort of friend this was going to be. Maybe this mysterious friend was the reason behind his being abruptly so shy with me. I didn’t care though, whether Heero liked it or not, he was going to make love to me, and it was going to be very soon. Five hundred years may have been a long time, but my three days seemed even longer.

***

I was still wondering how to go about my seduction, when Heero stood up and took off his robe.

"Hey, I thought we had to keep these on."

He glanced at me and smirked. "Not while in flight and out of sight of land."

"You never told me that." I said accusingly, starting to take off my robe, which had been getting hotter and more uncomfortable to wear by the hour.

"You never asked." He turned his back and stretched, then started to take off his shirt.

I watched as the muscles rippled in a silken movement across his shoulders and back. The golden skin was flawless and nearly glowing in the sunlight of the late afternoon. He turned slightly, his profile to me, and slowly began to unzip his pants. I shook my head as I realized he was stripping.

"Heero?" he turned to face me, zipper half undone. "What are you stripping for?" I wondered if he’d decided to finally do something.

"I thought I would bathe in the sun." He smiled and tugged his zipper the rest of the way down, casually stepping out of his pants and conjuring a small glass bottle into his hand.

My mouth was feeling a bit dry so I didn’t respond. Instead, my eyes went slightly wide as he stretched out in front of me and began oiling his thighs, hands moving onto his stomach, his chest. My eyes followed as his fingers and body became slick and glistening. It dawned on me that he knew I wanted him; so badly, I could taste it in the back of my suddenly parched throat like a crystal of water.

I started to feel the sun beating down on my head, the slight breeze of the held back wind. I could smell the Aegean below us with a hint of land, and whatever he was slathering all over his body smelled exotic and spicy, and perhaps like it would taste good too.

Trying not to look like my eyes were glued to his every move, I finished taking off my robe, laying it beside me. My fingers went on automatic, unbuttoning the loose shirt I’d put on, unzipping the shorts. Finally as bare as he was, I leaned over and held out my hand. "Can I have some of that oil, please?"

He blinked at me, his eyes seeming to come into focus from a far off place. Taking in my complete lack of clothing his gaze followed my body from one end to the other, slowly. A smile that was soft and feral crept across his lips.

Watching that lazy smile I licked my own lips, they felt dry. I felt all of a sudden too hot, incredibly heated by the sun on the outside and over heated by that steady gaze on the inside. I blinked in surprise when I felt the splash of oil on my palm; I’d forgotten I had even asked for some of it.

Swallowing, trying to regain my voice, I dipped my fingers into the puddle of oil cupped in my hand. I looked up and met his eyes. Without thinking about it I whispered, "Does it taste good?" and deliberately brought my oil slick fingers to my mouth, watching him.

His eyes opened wide for a moment and then narrowed, brilliant cobalt slits in the light of the sun. That wicked little smile still graced his face as he leaned closer to me. "Try it."

I nodded at the slight challenge, sucking a fingertip between my lips, my eyes becoming lazy and half lidded under so much sexual tension. His mouth twitched slightly, tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip as if tasting me tasting the oil.

It was delicious, sweet and spicy, warm and almost but not quite tasting subtlety like his amber skin did. Our eyes met again, and I could see the heat that was in his stare as clearly as I could feel the sun on my back. Everything began to get that distant yet strangely close feeling that only happened during times like these. At one moment, I could hear the sound of the water below us, and at another, all I could feel was that heavy gaze meeting my own. Time seemed to be starting and stopping with no rhyme or reason, colors became bright and glowing, then faded until all I saw was him sitting across from me, smiling that slow, sexy smile.

I smiled back one of my own. "What took you so long?"

He knew exactly what I meant, shifting closer, until mere inches separated us. "I thought I would let you ask this time."

I brought the hand still cupping the oil over his thigh, letting the warm liquid drip between my fingers to land on that smooth expanse of skin, "I’m asking then." I said softly, running my slippery fingers up his hip, sliding them over his stomach and then around his back, tugging him closer. "I thought you were just being shy."

He returned my smile as his lips barely grazed mine. I felt the sun, harsh on my skin, and his mouth, soft and sweet. The breeze shifted and seemed to pick up slightly, and his mouth became a less than gentle thing. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the sensation of skin-to-skin. I had always found it so hard to keep my eyes open whenever he did something to me, it was as if I couldn’t bear to watch it as well as feel it.

My hands slid up around his neck, pulling him down and against my body. He was molten from the heat of the sun, slick with scented oil, a feast for the senses. My lips parted, his tongue a delicate touch inside, playing. It sent shivers down my spine, just that small caress.

I knelt up, rubbing against him, completely abandoned and uncaring of anything but the feel of him sliding along my skin. Only when he stopped kissing me did I become aware once more of my surroundings.

I opened my eyes, watching the wind ruffle his hair as his mouth followed where his fingers were already heading. My gaze turned to the blue dome of the sky, a moan falling from my mouth as his lips wrapped around my length. His tongue lapped at it, fingers a feather light touch that danced lower, massaging and heightening the growing need within me.

His name became a low purr from my throat as he slid an oil slick finger inside of my body, slowly stroking in and out. His mouth kept working at my arousal, tongue hot and wet. I leaned back on my hands, collapsing from the strain. I wasn’t surprised to have his mouth and hands follow me down, spreading my legs further apart, adding another twisting finger.

"Uhhnn... Heero... please... " The breath caught in my throat, rasping out.

His mouth stopped, lifting up and off my arousal with a soft popping sound. "Please?" He asked in a low voice, his fingers still moving inside of me.

"It’s been... mmm... so long Heero... three days... " His lips began trailing up my stomach, gentle and soft compared the rough thrusting motion of his fingers.

"That is how long it has been for you, hmm?" He chuckled, nipping at the tender skin along my ribs. His fingers slowed, barely moving, I could feel him smile against me. When I didn’t answer, he continued sliding up my body, until his face was next to my own.

With a great effort I managed to keep my eyes open, all my will being sapped out of me by those driving digits within and his heavy stare without. "Do you know how long it’s been for me? How long I’ve gone without because nothing could make me want like you did?" His voice was intent, his free hand grasping my chin, pulling my face closer until his lips brushed mine as he spoke.

"Five hundred years I’ve waited for someone like you to come along again. And instead I get the same you, the one I’ve always wanted the most." He whispered against my mouth, his hand finally stopping its movements and slipping out of my body.

"Please... Heero... "

He shifted my legs, sliding between them and raising them up to wrap around his waist. "There’s only one thing wrong."

His fingers began entering again, stretching, widening my more than willing body. I felt that hard shaft begin to nudge in as the oil slick fingers slid out. He began slowly pushing inside. I opened my eyes when he stopped after only the tip of that hot length was in, and growled up at him, raking my short nails down his back. I’d been reduced to rough sounds, words incapable of forming, only demands.

"It is odd to be this size," he chuckled once more, sending my internal muscles into small spasms. I tried to rock against him, drive him deeper. He smiled down at me, easily halting any effort at gaining more of him. "It feels unfamiliar to be the same height as you." He said in a husky whisper, and I found myself unable to do anything but look up into his vibrantly cobalt eyes, helpless.

He bent down, capturing my mouth, roughly thrusting his tongue in, invading even as his hips remained absolutely still. I couldn’t help but groan, vainly wiggling beneath him. His moan inside my mouth had me whimpering, and then finally he began pushing in deeper, that incredible feeling of fullness enveloping me. Just as I felt myself becoming accustomed to the size of him, he stilled again. I started shaking, managing to get a few words out at last.

"Heero! Please... please... please... more... "

"Mmm... anything for you... " Without moving, he began to grow inside me, and I realized he was changing back to his normal body size.

"Oohhh god... nooo... mmm... " I felt filled beyond limit, his erection sliding in deeper even as he reverted to that daunting form. "Aaahhh... you... you can’t do... mmmm..."

He rolled his hips achingly slow, easing in and out with shallow little movements. My hands went limp, uselessly falling next to my head to weakly grasp at the carpet. A half strangled cry fell from my open mouth when he pulled out abruptly, hands soothing down my sides, before I was rolled over onto my stomach. I groaned into the rug as I realized what he planned to do next.

Raising my hips, he slid a hand down my back to rest between my shoulders, pinning me down. His other hand ran along my spine, and his fingers entered me yet again, thrusting so deeply I saw stars behind my closed eyelids. Tremors crackled through me, and I pushed against those long fingers, wantonly spreading my legs as far as I could, silently begging.

Tears stung my eyes, as he obliged, the full length of him entering my body again, delving limitlessly, ruthlessly. I loved it. His hands gripped my cheeks, spreading them wide against him, and driving in with such force, I thought I would never survive the attack. A wordless scream filled the air, and I realized that it was my own.

Just as I thought I was going to fall over the edge of my sanity to plummet hard into orgasm, he stopped again, quickly sliding out. I sobbed into the velvety rug, completely unaware of the sun or sea, the wind I knew was rushing across my heated and sweat soaked skin. His hands lifted me, arms wrapping around my waist and ribs, pulling my body like a rag doll until I was resting with my back against his chest, legs sprawled to either side of his.

"I’ve always loved the feel of you," He groaned against my ear, his rock-hard shaft slipping deep inside once more. One of his hands wrapped around my aching erection, grazing the tip with slick fingers, before stroking it lazily. My head fell back against his shoulder, I felt impaled upon him, completely open and owned. His breath was hot and erratic against my neck. "Mmm... Duo... my beautiful human... "

He pumped leisurely, taking his time, and driving me slowly insane. My arms wound behind and around his neck as I found myself incapable of anything else, except for the powerless motion of my body taking his length as it glided so unhurriedly in and out. His teeth nipped along my neck, and he growled softly as he nuzzled. Then he began pounding again, taking me hard and fast, his hand a non-stop pressure on my throbbing cock.

The breath wheezed out of me, becoming caught in my throat as my entire body stiffened, and with a soft gasp, I came, coating his hand and my stomach. I heard his answering gasp, and felt the hot sensation as he released into my body. His hands skimmed my wet stomach, pulling me hard and close. Gently kissing the back of my neck, licking at the salty sweat. I found myself vacantly staring into the vivid blue sky above, the rushing sound of the sea barely penetrating the fog in my head.

His whisper was a gentle exhalation next to my ear. "Nothing has ever felt as good as you do. Nothing has ever made me feel like you. Do you think you could ever love such a bastard as I?"

I smiled up at the clear sky above. My answer coming out as an inaudible murmur, and I turned my head against him, closing my eyes and drifting off to an oblivious sleep with his length still deep inside my body.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up to the lack of wind and sunshine. I was lying down dressed once more in my clothes and that long grey robe. Sitting up, I noticed I was in another alleyway, Heero standing at the mouth of it, peering out onto a busy street.

I stood up, giving the rug a friendly pat and blushing slightly at the thought of what I’d done earlier on it.

"Hey Heero, where are we?" I called to him, wandering down the narrow little alley and glancing past him towards the insanely crowded street.

"Athens, near the heart." He turned and smiled at me, brushing my cheek with his hand before walking past me and back to the rug. "We need to find a place to stay." He began rolling the rug up, tucking it under his arm and taking my hand to tug me out of the alley into the fading sunset.

"Hmm, hotel eh? Well, it’s the height of tourist season here right now, so a room might be hard to find." I paused beside him on the sidewalk and took in a glance at our surroundings. The red rays of the dying sun washed over the city, and it was a strange mix of modern day right beside ancient history. I had the stupid urge to say something along the line of ‘nice ruins." But controlled it and tried to spot some hotels instead.

"This is going to be hard you know." I said, idly turning and beginning to walk down the sidewalk. I realized we were both in the robes still. "Can people even see us? It might be dangerous to cross the street if we’re invisible."

"They can see us, they just don’t bother to think about us. It is like, seeing something but not noticing it."

"Ah, and that’s what the rug has on it all the time?" We turned left at a cross section of streets, and walked towards a quieter part of town.

"Yes." He stopped and took my elbow, pointing towards a small hotel. "Let’s try there."

I eyed it; it looked all right, not great though. But it turned out to at least have air conditioning and a nice bathroom, which is all I could ever really hope for in any hotel. And the towels were large, soft, and fluffy, something that to me was like a special added bonus.

I still had the residue of earlier escapades in rug riding, all over me. I discovered as I stripped almost immediately upon entering the room, that I also had some nice large rug burns as well as a few hickeys, bruises, and a really painful sunburn. The shower looked like paradise and then some.

I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and melted into a happy puddle underneath its pounding heat. Sometime much later I finally regained my senses and stepped out in a cloud of steam, wrapping a few towels around myself and wondering what had happened to my erstwhile Djinni. Turned out he was asleep on the bed, making soft content sounds and with the sweetest of expressions on his face. I smiled despite myself and crawled beside him, falling asleep once more.

***

There is nothing nicer then waking up warm and snuggled inside someone’s arms. Except possibly waking up held in those arms, and then finding out they belong to Heero. Soon enough though, I felt the drastic need to go empty my bladder, and unhooked those arms in order to get up and do a little crabwise sprint for the bathroom. He was still asleep when I came back out, so I stood for a while brushing out my still damp hair and watching that face. It was so strange to see him sleeping, and actually needing it. Always before, he’d simply slept because he’d wanted to.

I finished brushing and quickly braided my hair into a loose rope, looking around for my clothes. Oh right, the magic bag. It looked like Heero was just going to have to wake up.

There are many ways to wake someone up. You can go traditional routes, like yelling or tapping. There are the cruel ways, like a cold cup of water or a clash of cymbals if you own any. Or, there are the friendly ways, the nice ways. I couldn’t help but go a nice route, so I tickled him awake.

Well, it was nice for me at least. I started at his bare feet, running my fingertips along the soles of them until they began to twitch. Grinning slightly, I crawled up beside him and tickled the back of his knees. The muscles in his calves tightened and flexed. I started laughing softly and went for his ribs next. Though, I wasn’t expecting him to jerk awake like that and pin me to the bed. Not that I minded once I was there, instead I tried to tickle him again, finding I enjoyed it too much to stop.

I admit, I started the proceeding tickle war that raged around the small hotel room. We wound up destroying one lamp, the chair, part of the bedspread, a lot of the curtains, and, this made me wince a bit, a pane of window glass. Luckily, I was able to declare a truce and Heero managed to repair the damage before we left to find a late night dinner.

***

Certain parts of Athens are lively at night, there are a few bars and restaurants open until all hours, catering to your tastes as far as food, entertainment, and booze goes. We went for all three and wound up at a rag tag little place facing a pile of ruins that according to Heero had once been a temple or something, though he couldn’t remember to whom or what.

We decided to eat inside so we could hear the live music the place promised, sitting down at a rickety table for however many you could fit and balancing carefully on the chairs. I wound up ordering some Ouzo and a starter of calamari. Heero ordered an eggplant salad and a plate of spinach pie.

We looked at each other over the table for a few minutes, smiling and bumping knees beneath it, until our drinks arrived. I leaned across the small table, drink in hand. "I’ve been meaning to ask you, just how aware of things is the rug? I mean, I’d feel really bad if it knew what we... if it was aware of... " I stammered to a halt, blushing furiously and taking a quick sip of my drink.

"The rug is only aware of itself, it is hard to explain the concept of what a rug feels once it is alive. It feels as it always has, the basic urge to lie on a floor is I imagine excruciating." He smiled at me and stole a few of my calamari, which had arrived before any of his food.

"So then it wasn’t paying attention?"

"Exactly so, why should it have? It does not care about human activities, trust me we will not see the rug trying to have sex with another rug." He said it in perfect seriousness, which made it even funnier, and I started to laugh, choking on my drink and turning red for a moment. Eventually I wiped the tears from my eyes and met his look from across the table.

"I’m sorry Heero, I just had this sudden vision of it going to the nearest rug club, to cut a rug, and hit on other rugs and... " I started laughing again. "I’m just glad to know it doesn’t mind us. Now here’s a serious question," I paused and smacked his hand away from the last bites of Calamari on my plate. "Where’s this live music they promised?"

Just as I said it, I saw a tall slim boy slip out from behind the tiny curtain on the even smaller area set up as a stage. He moved strangely, almost hopping, and I realized as the lights lit him up slightly, that his legs were horribly deformed. He was wearing baggy pants that slid down his hips, and one of his shoes was on backwards, not just the wrong foot, but completely backwards. He had a round fisherman hat pulled down over his eyes, covering most of his features.

He pulled out a set of reed pipes, beautifully made, and darkly polished, and began to play and I forgot all about what he looked like and became transfixed. The music was beautiful, haunting and sweet. It hit something deep inside and called it forth, and I found myself just staring at this strange boy in awe.

After a while, I noticed I wasn’t the only one, the entire place had hushed and was watching him. I let my mind roam, taking in his lanky form, the white undershirt he was wearing showed off surprisingly cut and toned muscles and few unusual tattoos that curved over his shoulders and up behind his neck. His hips moved peculiarly in time to the music, the bizarre deformation of his legs making him sway in almost frightening ways.

My eyes came back into focus as the song ended and I glanced at Heero, whose back had been to the stage the entire time. He too seemed to come out of a daze, and shook himself slightly, before slowly turning around and looking at the stage. I watched as his jaw dropped open slightly. Then he was on his feet and moving towards the boy, and the next thing I knew they were clasping each other in a tight hug, yelling above the returned chatter of the restaurant.

I sat eyeing them for a moment, idly chewing some of the salad that had arrived unnoticed. Then, bucking up my spirits, I got up and made my way over to where they were talking animatedly together near the stage.

As I approached, the boy looked up and met my eyes. I stopped right where I was, frozen by that glowing green gaze. And I knew, he was somehow magical, just like Heero and I were. Because no one’s eyes could have that much depth, color, beauty. My feet moved me closer before I was aware of it and I stood next to them, looking up to try to catch sight of those amazingly vivid emerald eyes again.

His features, now that I could see them, were delicate, almost elfin. A perfect triangle of a nose, a pouty lower lip, high cheekbones, fine, slim eyebrows that curved exquisitely over his eyes. He smiled down at me, taking my hand. "Ahh so you’re the human."

I grimaced and glared at Heero for a moment. His eyes were glued to the boy’s hand on mine. I looked down at the slim hand clasping my own, then up again. "Duo."

"Duo, hmm." He lifted my fingers to his mouth and did the strangest thing, he snuffled at them, then stuck out the tip of his tongue to carefully taste my knuckles as if savoring the flavor of a vintage wine. I shivered and tugged my hand back, sticking it my pocket and feeling my fingers tingle.

"What’s your name?" I asked, feeling peculiarly out of place, as if I were drunk all of a sudden.

He smiled, leaning closer, and I got a whiff of him. A tantalizing smell drifted from his body to wrap around my mind like cotton wool. It was sweet, spicy, but most of all earthy, almost as if he’d bathed in a forest. I smelled trees and cold air, moss, flowers, and an oddly sensual odor, almost like the smell of sex. Without even realizing it, I’d grown hard just from the smell of him. I blinked and leaned back, trying to come to my senses. "Who are you?" I managed to gasp out.

"I can’t really have you using my real name, but if you must call me something, call me Trowa."

Heero snickered, nonchalantly stepping around the tall boy to hover in front of me. "Trowa? Oh come on Pan, that’s bullshit."

I blinked a few times. "Pan?" My mouth fell open a little and I pushed it closed.

"Shut up you Djinni bastard! I’m forbidden to use that name now!" The delicate features were marred by an angry look, and then it was gone just as quickly as it had come.

"Hm, Dionysus still mad at you?" Heero asked curiously, easing his arm around my waist.

"No, Zeus this time. Dio is hanging back at my apartment drunk off his ass. You know how he is." He waved a hand vaguely, and then perked up. "So why are you here?"

"I was looking for you actually, wondered if you knew where... "

Trowa cut in. "Don’t say that name my friend, you know he’ll hear you. And are you really sure you want his attention?"

Heero shut his mouth, frowning. "Guess you’re right. But I do want to speak with him, and soon. As for going back to your apartment." He turned to me, squeezing my side. "Do you want to go? Dio usually has something good to drink on him." A secretive smile crept across his lips.

"Um, all right. Let’s pay for dinner and go. Besides I’ve always wondered what happened to all the Greek gods."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Following Fic part Contains: 1x2/2x1, AU, yaoi, seduction, sequel-lyness, lemon, a rug, flying, a sea, and other things...
> 
> ADDITIONAL WARNINGS: All mythology you see in this fic has been changed somewhat from what you know to be true, so please! No messages saying I’ve got my mythology wrong ^_^ Cause I’ve done it on purpose, k?

We stayed at the restaurant long enough to watch the rest of Trowa’s gig. Then we payed our check and headed out onto the street. It was around one a.m. at that time, and I was feeling the slight buzz of a few glasses of Ouzo. I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Heero while we watched Trowa perform, so I still had a lot of questions on my mind.

Before I had a chance to start asking what I wanted to know however, Trowa stopped in a patch of darkness and pulled off his shoes. I thought that in itself was pretty strange, but it got even weirder when what should have been bare feet, made little clicking sounds on the road. He caught me watching him and winked one brilliant green eye at me. Then he clacked over to me and held up a foot to the light.

It took me a few moments to comprehend what I was seeing. What I thought at first was some horrifying melding of bone and tissue, turned out to be a hoof. I glanced up at his face and he grinned and put his hoof down, stamping it and making another of those little clicking noises.

"You’d make a hell of a tap dancer." I said as dryly as I was able, which I was rather proud of, considering I’d just realized he was a Satyr. In all that time, it had never occurred to me that his deformation was anything but what it looked like. I’d never actually contemplated that he had a pair of... goat’s legs.

We started walking again, and Heero chuckled softly. "You didn’t realize did you Duo?"

"No, never would have guessed." I shook my head and put my hands in my pockets, watching Trowa’s little hooves on the road as he walked slightly ahead of us. "Heero?"

"Hm?" He turned his head and glanced at me.

"If Satyr’s are real, and ancient Greek gods are real, and Djinni are real, what else is real?" We turned a corner and headed down into an older neighborhood. It looked like it could have been there for thousands of years, and I realized it just might have been. Heero stepped closer to me, keeping an eye on the boy-god who’d skipped ahead of us into the virtually black street.

"Everything is real."

"Ok, who put you in the bottle?" I asked out of the blue, trying to catch him off guard.

He didn’t answer for a few moments, looking ahead of us and avoiding my eyes. I could hear the click-clack of Trowa’s hooves echoing off the walls of the apartments around us.

"The same one whose name I can’t say." He said at last.

"Can you give me a hint as to who it might be without saying the name?"

"Maybe."

"Is it another Greek god?"

"Yes."

The clicking sound ahead stopped, and I knew wherever we’d been heading, we were there.

"Who is it Heero?" I asked quickly, before we caught up with the goat boy.

"Trowa’s lover." He said softly.

"Not any more." Trowa said out of the darkness a foot to our right.

"What do you mean?" Heero asked, turning his head towards the sound of the boy’s voice.

I caught a glint of green and then a pale slim hand emerged from the little pool of shadows and gestured us forward. "Come on, my place is upstairs. There’s no light up, so you’ll just have to be careful."

I grabbed onto Heero’s shirt as we followed the sound of hooves up the pitch-black staircase. Eventually we stopped and a light came on right in front of us. I shielded my eyes and heard a mumbled, "Sorry." from Trowa. Then the light dimmed and we stepped inside a tiny, cramped apartment.

The first thing that I noticed was the guy on the couch who looked to be passed out. The second thing was that everytime I tried to get a clear look at him; he wavered and seemed to change. I blinked a few times and tried again, with the same bizarre results. No matter how I looked at him, he kept shifting, as if he were changing between two separate bodies.

Heero caught my eye, and smiled. "That’s Dionysus and Bacchus."

I gave him a blank look and sat down on a large overstuffed chair near the couch. "Ok. All right. He’s two gods in one, right?" My voice squeaked a bit, and I swallowed, trying to calm myself.

"Somewhat. It’s a long story." He settled down on the floor at my feet, leaning against my legs.

"Do we have time?"

"Plenty." Trowa said, emerging from a room tucked away somewhere in the dimness behind the couch. "Go on and tell him Heero."

I glanced pointedly at the passed out god on the couch.

"Don’t mind him," Trowa waved a hand at the figure, "He’ll be awake sooner or later." I noticed that he’d taken off his hat, and tried to keep my eyes from bugging out when I spotted the two tiny horns on his head. Then he stepped out from around the couch and my eyes nearly did pop out. He’d taken off his pants.

It is one thing to know you’re hanging out with a god, who also happens to be a Satyr; it is a completely different thing to be faced with physical evidence.

My eyes took a stroll down his waist, vaguely noticing he still had on that tight little tank-top undershirt. Where I started to wonder about my sanity, was right past his belly button. That’s where the fur began. It was velvety soft looking on his abdomen, feathering into thicker fur as it moved downwards. His thighs looked almost normal, a little more muscular than a human and covered in thick, reddish-brown fur, but it was right about the knee where his legs became obviously goat-like. Because he didn’t have a knee, he had... something like a reversed knee, or perhaps more like a cat’s back leg. My eyes trailed up again and stopped at groin level, where there was nothing but blank fur.

I heard a throat being cleared and started blushing when I realized I’d been staring at Trowa’s crotch.

"It’s a covering." Trowa said, chuckling and sitting down on the couch, pushing the drunken god’s legs out of the way.

"Huh?"

"You were wondering where my genitals are, right?"

I felt even more blood rush to my cheeks and met gazes with the floor.

He laughed again, apparently delighted by my embarrassment. "Some people got uncomfortable around my naked form, so I had a friend make up this covering to match my fur."

I glanced up and looked again. Now that he’d said, I could see that it was merely a sort of loincloth. "Weird." I mumbled, I met his eyes, "I’ve just never umm, thought about what a real Satyr would look like. Sorry."

"Ah, it’s all right, I’m sure everything is a bit strange, at first." He turned towards Heero, "So tell him about the great soap opera and tragedy that is the world of the Greek gods." He chuckled and put his hooves on the coffee table, leaning back and resting his elbow on Dionysus’ hip. "When big boy here wakes up I’ll get us something entertaining to drink." He snickered, poking the sleeping form with his fingers.

***

Heero leaned back against my legs, stretching his own in front of him, and started talking.

"First, you have to take everything you think you know about Greek gods and Roman gods, any god for that matter, and throw it all away. Because everything you know is only partially right."

I nodded and snuggled into the overstuffed chair, resting my foot on his thigh and half closing my eyes.

"The gods each have many names, each name they were given changed them a little. So that eventually they became separate entities within one body." He gestured towards the passed out god on the couch, "Take him for instance. Once he was merely Dionysus, but since both the Romans and Greeks shared their gods, he also became Bacchus. It split his personality until, because of the magic that makes up a god, he became both names."

"Wait a minute Heero," I leaned down slightly and looked at him. "What exactly makes up a god? Why are they so magical? Where does it all start?"

Trowa snorted from across the room. "A god is created from a human’s thoughts and hopes. We are created from your imaginations." He swung his hooves off the table and leaned over it, meeting my eyes. "We came into creation with the first human thoughts, though most of us would rather die than admit to it. You see, every human has the capacity to be a god; it is all a matter of willpower. But there seems to be this safety mechanism within the human mind, so that you cannot become a god."

"Ok, that makes a little sense. But how come you get to be a god?"

"Ah, I was created. A god’s sole purpose is like... like a funnel for human magical energy. With your dreams and wishes, you created us to act out what you could not. Do you understand yet?" His face was almost serious, except for the faint twinkle in his eyes.

"I think so. But, if you’re all split personalities, and also magical creations... aren’t you even more dangerous than a human would be with magic?"

He grinned. "Of course we are, that’s why there are so many of us scattered through out the world. We are a balance for one another. Without love after all, there can be no war. Without justice, there can be no wrong. So in the end, we create giant tragic scenes for ourselves, to balance out the dreams of humans."

"Now you’re just confusing me." I smiled at him, and noticed the sleeping man was stirring. Trowa shifted and prodded the god with his elbow.

"Wake up Dio, you’re being a poor host."

"Shut up you old goat," Came a slurred reply, "I’ve got a headache you wouldn’t believe." Slowly the man sat up, and I found myself staring at a beautiful face with elegantly split eyebrows and a very regal bearing. His ginger hair was combed back from his forehead, two little bits seeming to escape to brush that noble brow. He leaned forward slightly and nodded at me. "Gorgeous human, the toy for the night?"

I tensed and nudged Heero’s thigh with my foot. He patted my shin and cleared his throat.

"Ahh Heero! I haven’t seen you since Cupid stuck you in a bottle." Suddenly the ginger haired man was gone, and the other figure I had seen alternating with him on the couch appeared. This man had long, white blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He leered at me for a moment then glanced down at Heero and smiled. "It’s been ages! And it looks like you broke the curse, congratulations Heero."

Pan poked the longhaired man in the ribs and coughed discreetly. "Do a proper introduction will you?" He said in a resigned tone of voice, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.

"Oh yes, pardon my manners." The ginger haired man said as he appeared in the blonde’s place. It was an odd thing to watch, they kept switching places within the same space, and yet appeared to be two completely separate people. "I’m Dionysus, and I assume that if you are the one who broke the curse of our Djinni friend’s bottle, then you must be only partially human." He smiled at me, and changed to the man with the ice blue eyes again.

"I’m Bacchus, and I suppose this means you are not our toy for the night." He paused and looked me over from head to toe. "Pity." He said with a leer.

Trowa poked him again; "We need something to drink for the evening, oh drunken bastard of all that’s lecherous."

"I love it when you talk sweet to me." The ginger haired man said as he appeared again. It was starting to not only make my head hurt, but my eyes water as well, watching the two gods switch places. No, one god, two names, two bodies, one space... I started to feel a pounding start up within my temples and rubbed my forehead.

"I’m Duo," I managed to get out, "Nice to meet you."

Briefly, the blonde appeared and nodded at me, and then the other man was back, Dio. I tried to get it straight in my head, Dio was the ginger haired man, and Bacchus had the eyes like chips of ice.

Pan was tapping an impatient hoof on the floor. Dionysus turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Drink?"

"Oh! Yes." Bacchus appeared and smirked at me, passing a bottle that materialized in his hand over to Trowa. "It’s a lusty one." The blonde said, winking at me.

I smiled slightly and leaned back into the armchair, wondering if it was safe to be alone with him. Already, even from across the room, I could tell he would have the same kind of effect on me as Trowa had earlier. I could smell him. Only this time, it was much more pervading, almost suggestive. I kept having thoughts of everyone in the room naked and having sex, and felt my shorts grow tight. I leaned over and whispered in Heero’s ear. "Why do I keep getting so horny around them? It’s driving me nuts."

He chuckled and turned his head, brushing my ear with his lips. "Don’t you know what Dionysus and Bacchus are gods of? Pan too for that matter?"

"Wine?" I said hesitantly.

"That, and lust, lechery, buggery, you name it. They are gods of debauchery and wisdom, fertility and mysticism. Though, Pan is only a demi-god, so his effect might be less on you." He licked my ear and I felt the soft exhalation as he smiled against my skin. "They affect me as well you know." He purred softly, his hand sliding down my calf in a caress of fingertips.

"Heero, I wouldn’t do that right now if I were you."

"Why not?"

I glanced up at our audience and smiled. "You heard everything, huh?"

They nodded, Pan grinning and the strange mixture of god that was Bacchus and Dionysus chuckling as they switched back and forth.

I tried not to turn red. "Well it’s true, and you know it don’t you? It’s a very unfair advantage to have."

"We cannot help what we are." Bacchus said, leaning across the coffee table and smiling.

"Have some wine and don’t think about it too hard." Suggested Trowa with a smirk, passing an overflowing wineglass to me.

I held it up to the light, trying to determine its color, but it kept changing, shifting from one shade to the next, like a living rainbow made of liquid. "What is this?" I asked, sniffing the rim of the glass. It smelled like everything I’d ever smelled before, and then some. I shuddered and then leant close to sniff it again.

"Sensory Wine. I’ve only recently come up with it." Dio said, idly swirling a glass of the stuff in one hand.

"I’m really rather proud of it." Bacchus said, holding a wine glass in the other hand.

I felt my eyes cross slightly, trying to keep track of them. Then, shrugging, I sipped the wine.


	6. Chapter 6

I did not expect the wine to do what it did. When Dionysus had said it was a sensory wine, I assumed it would merely heighten my perceptions or perhaps just make everything feel nice. After all, in a strange way Bacchus and Dio were the starters for a movement that came a few thousands years later, hippies. This god, these gods, whichever they were, had invented self exploration, mind expansion, free love, nudity as a way of life, etc...

So of course when I sipped the wine I knew that something would happen, I just didn’t know what. The first sip was sweet and cloying, the second was sour and vivid, then I downed the glass. I probably shouldn’t have done that last bit, but in the end, perhaps it was the best move I could have made.

The sensory wine did open your perceptions. For one split second that lasted an eternity, it opened your mind and let in every answer to every question you’d ever asked, every memory you’d thought had long ago been forgotten, and every dream you’d ever had. All of it came flooding into my mind for just one brief instant. And I knew everything for that shining moment; I held every answer in the world. Then it was gone, fading out and leaving me to stand up, dropping my wineglass to the ground.

I opened my eyes, and then blinked a few times in sheer astonishment. I wasn’t in the small, cramped apartment anymore. The tatty couch was gone, the armchair I’d been sitting in moments before had disappeared, the very walls were no longer there.

I was in a vast forest, across from me sat not one flickering god, but two separate and distinct figures with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. Beside the two men sat another figure, Pan. Only this Pan looked slightly different, more unearthly. His eyes seemed to actually glow in the night shadowed clearing.

I glanced down finally, and Heero still sat at my feet. He met my eyes, and I gasped. I could see the magic within him, wrapping around his body like a cloak, swirling throughout his entire being. He was so utterly beautiful.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking up at the gods that still sat across from me. Noticing that though the couch was indeed gone, what was there was some sort of leafy bower, almost like a couch made from trees and grasses. I spared a glance behind myself and saw that the armchair I’d been sitting in was made from the same type of thing; this explained what I had thought were loose springs poking into my rear.

Dionysus and Bacchus shifted slightly, and I realized that though they were separated, milky strands of pure magic writhed around them, connecting them, and keeping them near one another. Dio smiled at me. "The wine has allowed you to see truth and beauty," he chuckled and nudged Bacchus.

"Only truth and beauty until the sun rises." The blonde agreed, winking at me.

"Then this isn’t an illusion? What did I see before if it wasn’t reality?" I shook my head, staring around at the darkened trees. I could just make out flickering shapes among the foliage and branches. They almost looked like people.

"This is reality, what was before was illusion." Pan spoke up.

"I couldn’t tell you what was truly there Duo." Said Heero from where he remained sitting by my feet.

"Why not?" I asked, settling beside him on the forest floor. I felt like Alice after she fell down the rabbit hole.

"Would you have believed me? This is why the street Pan took us down was so dark, why the light was odd at his apartment. You were seeing the illusion that was cast."

"The sensory wine erases all illusions. It opens your senses to what were mysteries, enlightens your spirit as to its true purpose." Dio said, moving closer to Bacchus and whispering something in his ear, then they both looked at me.

"We will take you on a tour of this forest if you would like." Bacchus said, standing and pulling the ginger haired man to his feet.

Heero stood as well, tugging me up beside him. "Unless this forest has changed in the last few thousand years, I believe I can show him around."

The two men looked somewhat annoyed, glaring at Heero, then Bacchus whispered in Dionysus’ ear and they smiled. "The forest never changes Heero, as you well know. Enjoy showing him around." Dio said, sitting once again and pulling his partner down next to him.

Pan had been glancing from us to the gods; finally, turning his gaze to mine like a magnet, he said rather cryptically. "Beware Duo, behind complete truth lies only more illusion."

I nodded at him; not understanding one bit, and walked out amongst the midnight forest with Heero pulling me all the way.

***

"Heero?"

"Mm?"

We were walking among the pitch-black trees, the world having turned monochrome in the darkness. Every now and then, I would spot a figure sprinting ahead of us or beside us.

"What are those people I keep seeing?"

"They are the dwellers of the forest. When Bacchus first created this place, he let in any who worshiped or believed in his principles. They remain to this day, forever cavorting."

"I guess that’s the ultimate in hospitality." I muttered, glancing at a figure that ran quite close to where we’d stopped to talk. It was nude, and had long hair, other than that I couldn’t tell much more about it.

There was a glimmer up ahead; as we approached it, I saw that what had been shining so brightly was a small pond in the middle of a tiny clearing. The moonlight flooded down through a gap in the trees above, lighting up the pond seemingly from within, showing off its crystal clarity.

"This is the pond of Narcissus." Heero said quietly.

I glanced at him. "Isn’t it dangerous then?"

"No, only if you are like he was, then it could be." He had a soft smile on his face as he looked down at the pond.

"Heero, how did Cupid get you into the bottle? And why?"

Instead of answering, he began stripping the clothes from his body and leaving them in a trail behind himself as he walked towards the dazzling little pond. I watched him as he gently dipped a toe in the water, the silken movements of his calves and thighs poetic in the moonlight, like a marble statue come to life to bathe.

"What are you doing?"

He turned, shin deep in the water. "This is a natural hot spring." He said, as if that explained it all.

He moved deeper out into the water, until it just covered his stomach. "Duo, come swimming with me." He whispered, his back still to me.

I felt as if I were in a dream, though everything was radiantly clear and solid, a vision come to life. Nodding, I began stripping off my shoes, throwing my clothes in a pile beside the bank and wading into the warm water. It was like entering a toasty bath.

I made my way over to his side, vaguely noticing that we were the same height, our eyes meeting across the tiny expanse of water. "What’s the matter with you?" I asked, moving closer to him and reaching out a hand, running my fingers down his arm.

"It’s the forest, between Pan, Dionysus and Bacchus mixed with this ... forest." He exhaled loudly, moving away slightly. "I get... urges in this place, always have. They know it too."

"What do you mean?" I once again closed the distance between us, tugging his arm so that he was forced to remain in place.

"It... it is a long story."

"Do we have time?"

"Yes, I suppose we do." His head lowered, dark hair hiding his face from me. Then he looked up and met my eyes again, his expression strangely anxious. "Don’t touch me until I finish telling you, please."

"Alright." I moved away, staring at him from across the moonlit water.

"It all started thousands of years ago. I met Pan, Trowa, whatever he calls himself now. We were friends. It gets more confusing when you begin to add in the other characters of our little group. There was Cupid who is also, or was, a split god, containing like Bacchus another being within his own. Eros is a twin of Cupid; they look exactly alike, though their personalities differ somewhat. Cupid tends towards shy advances, where as Eros is lusty and forceful. The split god of love and lust was at the time with Pan." He paused and looked over at me. "Do you understand so far?"

"I think so. They were basically dating, right?" I settled deeper into the water, resting on my knees and tilting my head up to look between the gap in the branches above and watch the sky while he spoke.

"Yes, around the same time they were together, Aphrodite made some rather ardent advances towards myself. I refused her everytime, having no interest in the egotistical goddess. She believed that no one could refuse her, after all, was she not the goddess of love and beauty?" He sighed deeply, and slipped through the water to sit beside me.

"She was the start of it all. Feeling scorned as only a goddess may, she decided to ensnare me, and keep me forever as her own. Of course I did not find any of this out until much later, and after the deed had been done."

I nodded, idly playing with the tip of my braid beneath the water.

"It happened one evening Pan and I were in this very forest, drinking and talking as we always did. I was free then, a being completely of magic and will, no masters to beg wishes of me. She slipped something into our wine, a... " He stopped speaking, trailing off and blinking into the sky.

"A lust drug? Or something like it?" I asked, knowing already that it was true.

"Yes, or something like it. I wound up having sex with Pan in the middle of that clearing we were in just a little while ago," he chuckled, "on that very couch."

I laughed. "Hope Bacchus and Dio aren’t sitting in the wet spot.

"They wouldn’t care if they were, they’re very enlightened." We both laughed for a moment, the tension easing out of the air between us, or so it seemed.

"Aphrodite is also a split god, or in her case, goddess. She is partnered much like Dionysus and Bacchus, two distinctly separate beings. They looked differently, acted differently, and enjoyed separate things, Aphrodite wanted me and Venus wanted Mars."

"Sounds confusing and possibly a potential plot for war." I said, trying to ignore any Greek god puns.

"Yes, after Pan and I had sex, she told Cupid, who was always the more emotional side of his deity. She told him of a way to humiliate me and keep me from ever coming near Pan again."

"Soon after I went to pay a visit to Cupid, as I was friends with him as well as Pan. I was going to confess what had happened. But when I entered his dwelling, he was not about. Upon further searching I found him to be out in the forest surrounding his home, in a clearing much like the one... well you get the idea."

"Yes."

"Yes." He nodded and kept going. "And so Cupid confronted me, hurt by what he considered my treachery, for Aphrodite had told him of the whole thing, omitting her part in it of course."

"Oh of course." I murmured in agreement.

"Eros was beside Cupid the entire time, and it was the first time I had ever seen them so angry about something. It hurt to know I was the cause of it. Cupid told me that he could forgive me, but that it would take a very long time, and until then, he would curse me. And so, he did, chaining my soul to that bottle, and spelling me forever bound to it until only a true love would know how to free me." He flicked a glance in my direction, and then continued in a softer voice.

"Eros promised me, that though Aphrodite had told him of my deed, he would forgive me more so than his counterpart, and would keep my bottle from falling into her hands. He threw my bottle far away, to land in the sands of Egypt until I was found by my first Master."

"So that’s how you were trapped for all those years. But, now that you’re free, won’t Aphrodite come after you?" I silently added ‘or me?’

"Yes, she might, she’s always been vindictive beyond reason. That’s why I needed to come to Greece, to finish the story, to end it."

"But how?" I sat up; moving closer to him, until we were inches apart.

"Pan has offered to help, Cupid hasn’t spoken to him since I was put in the bottle, I think he misses his lost love." He smiled, looking almost relaxed for the first time in hours.

"So," I let out a shallow little breath and moved another inch closer, "Why didn’t you want me to touch you? What effects does this place have on you exactly?"

He cleared his throat, embarrassment staining his cheeks dark beneath the moonlight. "This is the Forest of Desires... all desires... " He glanced off at the trees surrounding us, refusing to meet my eyes.

"And? What’s the problem?" I moved another inch closer, my handing sliding beneath the water, getting nearer and nearer to his skin.

"Don’t you feel it? Every desire you have is fulfilled, all fantasies come true in this place, it is after all the home of Bacchus and Dionysus, they have engorged it with their very essence."

My fingers danced beneath the water, slithering over his thigh and up his hip. I smiled when he jumped slightly. "Engorged and essence are two words that seem to have a very nice connotation right now." I murmured in a husky voice, bringing my arms up out of the water to wrap around his neck, yanking his mouth to my own. He managed to get out a small whimper that absolutely sent heat ramming into my groin. I tugged his hair, tilting his head back further and began plundering his mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

My fingers danced beneath the water, slithering over his thigh and up his hip. I smiled when he jumped slightly. "Engorged and essence are two words that seem to have a very nice connotation right now." I murmured in a husky voice, bringing my arms up out of the water to wrap around his neck, yanking his mouth to my own. He managed to get out a small whimper that absolutely sent heat ramming into my groin. I tugged his hair, tilting his head back further and began plundering his mouth.

He pulled back, wiggling out of my grasp with a faint gasp and running towards the bank in a spray of water. It took a few moments of utter confusion before I ran after him. For some reason all of my senses seemed to have left me. The only thought in my head was of him, naked, in a dark forest, and with me. What it boiled down to was lust, pure and simple.

The Forest of Desires apparently effected and infected you with the strongest of your desires at the moment, it just so happened mine was lust. What I wondered, was Heero’s greatest desire at the moment? And so, I gave chase, catching glimpses of him as he darted through the trees ahead. I didn’t know why I was running, and I didn’t care. It was as if all primal senses had taken over, and I sensed prey.

At last, we came to an impasse, the trees up ahead too thick, the foliage too great for him to get through it. He had his back to me, glancing frantically about, looking for an escape. I found myself slinking towards him on my bare feet, no noise accompanying me.

I slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him back against my chest. "Why are you running Heero? What’s the matter with you?"

Instead of an answer, he whimpered and tried to pull away. I chuckled, sliding my hands up his ribs and nuzzling the back of his neck. "You’re acting so strange." I murmured against his skin. Ignoring how strange I myself was behaving.

My fingers slipped upwards, and then froze. I blinked for minute, then tentatively ran my hand over the skin just under his collarbone. My other hand sliding upwards from the other direction, Heero shivered against me. "Heero?"

"Mm?"

I started to laugh. "What is umm," I cupped my hand around a surprisingly firm, warm breast and squeezed slightly, "this?"

He mumbled something and I leaned closer, nuzzling his ear. "I’m sorry, what was that?"

"It’s mhmhnnv... "

I laughed, slipping one hand down his stomach and sliding it lower still to find... nothing. Well, not nothing, I found as my hand slipped a bit further. "Could you repeat that?"

"It’s part of Aphrodite’s curse!" He yelled, spinning around to glare at me. I stared for a while; not even noticing my jaw was hanging open until it shut with an audible click.

"It’s illusion, right?" I asked after a few moments. Because what I was seeing was unbelievable. It was definitely still Heero, only... female. I moved closer, running my fingers down his face, noticing the soft roundness of his cheeks, the slightly longer and thicker eyelashes, even his lips looked just that much fuller. Glancing down, I looked for a while at the perfect, round, soft... I lost track of what I was thinking and just stared.

"I take it, it wasn’t just a lust drug then." I said finally, meeting his eyes in the darkness.

"It was a curse too. So that whenever I enter this forest and feel lust... " He winced and looked away, "I turn into a girl."

I frowned in mock sympathy. "Must be hard on you." Then I started to laugh again. "What a bitch! Talk about revenge." I found myself getting angry easily, slipping into rage with a terrifying simplicity.

"Duo! Be careful, whatever you feel the strongest is multiplied within this forest."

I took a deep breath, unclenching my hands from the fists they’d formed and relaxing. "Is that why I keep having these weird feelings?"

He nodded, and then shrugged, and my eyes followed his chest, my thoughts beginning to cruise once more towards his body. The problem I found myself having was that despite the girlish figure he was still one hundred percent Heero. Well, except for a few missing vital bits that he normally had. But the glare was the same, his voice nearly unchanged, though possibly an octave higher in pitch.

"This is quite a curse." I said, stepping closer to him and tweaking a nipple.

"Duo! It isn’t funny." He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped a foot, that familiar glare meeting my mild look.

"I don’t think it’s at all funny. It *is* interesting though." I took another step towards him and he backed into a tree. My arms went on automatic and placed themselves on either side of him, pinning him temporarily in place. "Very interesting." I whispered, my lips cruising over his in a slow, deliberate move.

"Duo... don’t... I can’t... "

"Why not?"

He tilted his head slightly, and I took the opportunity to taste his neck, trailing my mouth across one golden shoulder.

"Because... "

I nipped gently, barely grazing his warm skin with my teeth.

"Why?"

"Mm... "

I felt his shoulders relax; a low moan falling from his lips as he wiggled against the wet trail of kisses my mouth was leaving across the smooth flesh of his neck and shoulder. "I thought the whole reason you’re a girl is because," I smiled, sucking lightly on the salty flesh of his neck, "You’re all horny."

"I don’t want to be a girl for it." He moaned, writhing against me as I dipped my head lower, painting a small path over his collarbone.

"Well, you don’t have the right equipment to be yourself about it." I chuckled, meeting his mouth again, drawing out a low moan from him. I say him, but rightly he was more a she at this point, completely female in all the right places, and yet incredibly Heero at the same time. Whatever Heero was for the moment, it was soft, warm, supple, different.

I pulled back, looking into his eyes beneath the thick shadows amongst the moon dappled trees. "At least your kisses taste the same."

He blinked slowly, his body stretching and arching subtly against my own, bringing forth a little rush of air from my lungs. "Mmm... Duo... "

A fresh lash of heat ran down my body and straight to my erection, there was such a need in his voice it felt like an inferno crackling along my skin. I backed away, pulling my arms down to my sides with considerable restraint. "If you want me to stop, you’d better start running again." I whispered, meeting his eyes once more.

There was a flash of teeth as he smiled, reaching out for my hand and tugging me back against him. "If I wanted you to stop," He pulled my hand down between his legs, letting me feel the wetness slipping down his thighs, "I would have already been running."

I wasn’t able to form words, thoughts a vague echo and shape within my head at the feel of him so ready and wanting. So instead of saying anything, I kissed him again, hard, thrusting my tongue beyond the tender barrier of his lips, and claiming his mouth for my own.

His hand released mine, his fingers delving into my hair, caressing my face. I took the opportunity to slide a finger inside the slick heat between his invitingly parted legs. Quickly sliding in another when the first made him buck his hips against me, and murmur within my mouth.

"Mmm, bet you don’t even care about foreplay huh Heero?" I managed to gasp, raising one of his legs over my hip.

He smiled, reaching down and wrapping his fingers around my length, tugging me closer by it. His other arm wound around my neck, that sexy little smile meeting its twin on my lips. The sheath of his body was incredibly hot and wet, slick warmth covering me and pulling my inside. His tongue did a brief stutter on the roof of my mouth before his lips parted to emit a sighing gasp of pleasure.

Gradually I filled him, drawing more of those erotic whimpers from his throat, tightening my hand on his hip, then swiveling and driving in deeper still, rubbing against the small, stiffened nub at the apex of his sex. This action seemed to work very well, as it earned me his other leg, which slipped over my hip so that both pulled me against him, allowing me to pin his writhing body to the tree.

Soft breasts, hard nipples, and that velveteen and silken warmth pulsing around me as I slid within and without him. Time lost all meaning, the moon sprinkling the surrounding foliage and trees with a stars dusting of light. The heat from our bodies seeming to coalesce around us, providing a steam of sex and need.

My legs began trembling from the strain so that I sank down slowly to my knees, arms firmly holding him to me. Teeth clashed, tongues sliding together, and then he was pushing me backwards effortlessly, taking control.

Leaves and twigs dug into my back as I lay, pumping furiously into him, my hands clutching at his hips, cupping him closer only to pull out and slam in deeper. Release was close and yet so far, the magic of the forest seeming to make it all last so much impossibly longer then it would have normally.

As our actions became more violent, I turned the tables and our bodies, flipping us over so that once more I was on top, his legs automatically rising and gripping my waist, fingers gripping the ground, clawing at the loose soil.

His face was lit up by a stray moonbeam, and that was my undoing. The expression of ecstasy that turned his features into artwork turned my desire into pure pleasure. I lifted my head to the branches above and howled as I came, filling him and finally releasing that burning need within.

As my eyes fell once more to the ground below, I caught a glimpse of three figures standing near us, almost invisible they matched the dark clearing so well. Wonderful, an audience of gods, just what one needs when making love to your boyfriend turned temporary girlfriend.

I shrugged, smirking at them for a moment, before leaning down to claim Heero’s lips again. Gods be damned, I still wanted more.

"Heero," I whispered, nuzzling his mouth with my own, "we have an audience."

I felt him smile before whispering back, "I know, they’ve been following us since we left them."

"Well, do you mind if they get a show?" I asked, while nibbling at his ear.

"I think they deserve one." He groaned softly, rolling his hips as I lifted up slightly onto my hands.

"And what would you like next?" I grinned down at him as I eased in and out with shallow little juts of my hips. Another gift from the forest perhaps, an on-going libido, and an apparently never-ending virility.

"I would like something more comfortable to lie on." He smiled up at me. "I’ve got a twig sticking so far into my back it feels like it’s about to puncture a lung."

Without losing his smile, silk rained down in gentle waves about us, sprinkling the ground in a fine misting of cloth. I laughed and rolled us over to lie atop the soft mountain of slick cloth, ending up with his body cradled in my arms and warm against my chest. My laughter cut off into a groan as he shifted his legs on top of me, sitting up and beginning a slow, steady ride.

More stray beams of soft and sheltered moon glowed over his skin. "You look amazing." I purred, satisfied and complete with his body.

"You just say that because I’m female." He moaned, lowering his chest just close enough to let me feel the hard tips of his nipples sway against me as he rocked.

"I would say it if you were male, I would say it if I were blind."

"Blind hmm?" He laughed and twitched a piece of silk over my eyes. I still felt the subtle shift of his thighs as he began leaning backwards, bracing his hands on my knees.

My own hands ran up his hips and over the curve of his stomach, slipping up the soft and sloping peaches to lightly pinch a nipple between shaking fingers. Wringing a satisfying cry from his mouth, I slid one of my hands back down, gently flicking a fingertip across the slickened little pleasure nub between his legs. My length was treated to a tightening of muscles, an undulating wave of movement from inside of him.

"Oohh, that’s nice... " I moaned, lifting up and driving him further onto me, impaling him, rubbing my thumb against his clit in rough circles, loving the gasps that shuddered from his mouth.

His hips jerked wildly, hands flying to my shoulders, nails biting into my skin. And then his mouth met mine again, tongue slicing in and slithering against my own, his breath becoming one with mine through a translation of muted moans and cries.

My free hand floated across his face to tangle in his hair, as we moved on and on, sometime in the endless slap of our bodies and rhythm of the night, we moved more completely then even I knew. Because when he finally lifted the cloth from my eyes, I found we were back in our hotel room, on the floor. And Heero was delightfully male again.

"No gods or demi-gods in sight?" I asked, smiling at him, as he remained joined to me.

"No, they’re gone. The dawn has come." He melted onto my chest, sighing happily and nuzzling my throat.

"So... what’s real?" I asked in confusion, feeling my head spin from exhaustion.

"Everything."

"Wonderful, next thing you know, you’ll be pregnant."

"No, not unless we stayed in that forest forever, and remained lusty."

"A tough bill to fit, but I bet we could."

"Duo," He lifted his head, glaring at me for a moment, "don’t even think about it."

"Mm, only if you let me get some sleep."

His head relaxed back against my shoulder, soft breath washing over my skin. "Deal."


	8. Chapter 8

We slept until around noon, a night of staying up and being highly active, having taken its toll on our bodies and minds. When eventually my thoughts did start gathering together into something more coherent then mental puzzle pieces, I still didn't know what to think of the previous night. On the one hand, I could say it'd been bad, but on the other hand, I could say it had been very, very good.

I wound up picking the other hand, mostly because making love to Heero makes any day the best. Sappy, romantic, and yet completely true just the same. I hadn't minded that he'd been female for nearly all of it, for some reason that only added a thrill to the whole night. I had to admit, sex was never boring with Heero.

Smiling, I rolled over and nestled my face against his neck, snuggling close and breathing in the familiar smell of exotic spices and that niggling scent of something sweet. It always made me think he would taste good too; funny thing was he always did. Wrapping my hands firmly around one of his arms, I fell asleep again, content for the moment.

***

The sun was drifting low on what little horizon I could see through the hotel window, when I awoke for the second time that day. The bed turned out to be empty, but I wasn’t worried, as I could hear the sound of the shower going in the bathroom.

Yawning, stretching and blinking blearily, I made my way out of bed and onto my feet. The night before had been quite a night; I didn't know how many more of those nights I would be able to take. For now though, it was merely just another experience under my belt.

Thinking of belts reminded me a shower was probably one of the better things I could do at the moment. Considering that when we had finally left the forest we'd still been having sex...

Yes, definitely shower time. The thought of hot water and soap, not to mention naked and soapy Heero turned my feet towards the bathroom and my mind back into the sexual gutter it knew so well. A small cloud of steam greeted me upon opening the bathroom door, along with the pleasant odor of soap and shampoo.

Instead of yelling a greeting through the shower curtain, I went on stealth mode, slipping around the bathroom on noiseless feet. One boyfriend surprise coming up. I smiled to myself, easing back the curtain as quietly as I could. Then, in a clear, jangling, bright tone of voice I said as loudly as I could without yelling, "What are we doing today?"

If you’ve never seen a 6 foot-something Djinni twirl around in place while also jumping a few feet off the ground, and standing in a small shower, try it sometime, it’s fun. Of course, it helps if said Djinni is in the middle of washing his hair, buck naked, and trying to glare at you from beneath a head full of soap bubbles.

"What?" He asked after a few seconds of dumbfounded silence had passed.

Instead of repeating myself, I smiled up at him. "3 questions," I said.

"3 questions?" He repeated, and I had the sudden urge to ask if there was an echo in the bathroom.

"One," I paused and glanced around the shower, "Is there enough room in here for me?"

His jaw dropped a fraction and then he returned my smile, coyly looking around the shower as if judging whether we could both fit in it. "Yes, I do believe there is." He said softly, tugging me inside and pulling my head under the water.

I shut my eyes, my hair instantly getting soaked and plastering to my face. "Two! I yelled, swallowing some soapy water, "What are we doing tonight?"

He laughed and twisted me around, kissing me soundly before, rinsing the rest of the shampoo out of his hair. "We’re going to find out where Cupid has gone."

"What do you mean, where he’s gone? We know where he is, he’s here."

He glanced down, then turned and looked for the soap, carefully avoiding my gaze.

"Heero? He *is * in Athens, right?"

He turned completely around, giving me a wonderful view of his rear, and silence for an answer. I tapped a foot, waiting.

"He’s not in Athens anymore, according to Pan he’s been gone for several hundred years."

"What?" Now it was my turn to stare dumbfounded at him. "Where is he?"

"Pan wasn’t sure, though he says he’ll find out and tell us tonight. We’re to meet him at the same restaurant as last night."

"Ok, third question."

"Yes?"

I watched as he began soaping up his chest, slick fingers sliding down perfect golden skin.

"Uh... oh! Right, um, may I wash your back for you?" I snapped my fingers until I managed to create a pin to put my hair up with. I still hadn’t broken the urge to make a gesture whenever I tried to do magic. It annoyed Heero to no end.

"I’m going to have to start tying your hands behind your back to keep you from doing that." He grumbled, and then pulled me forward beneath the water again, arms sliding around my waist and tugging me tight against his body.

I could feel him laughing, a rumble that welled from deep within his chest. "You’re in a good mood today." I said with my lips pressing against his wet skin.

"Yes, I am."

"Care to tell me why?"

"Maybe."

His hands began sliding down my back, slippery with a layer of soap. I glanced up to find him watching me, eyes half closed. "Why don’t you turn around so I can reach your back better?"

"Because I have a feeling you don’t just want to reach my back." I said with a leer.

"You could be right."

"I know I’m right."

"Ok, you are right, now turn around so I can molest you."

"In this shower? Are you crazy? We’ll wind up breaking the walls down."

He eyed the tiled walls contemplatively, then the ceiling. "Do you really think so?"

"Actually... who knows? They might withstand a pounding." I grinned up at him, turning around in his arms and reaching for the wall. I patted it with my knuckles, "it seems sturdy enough."

He rubbed against me, reaching around me to bang a fist on the wall. "How about the ceiling?"

"Heero, how are we possibly going to damage the ceiling?"

"The wall could collapse and bring the roof down with it."

"You do realize we’re standing naked in a shower arguing about whether sex would bring the room crumbling in ruins around us?" I took a breath and wiggled slightly.

"Good point, would you rather talk about the different positions that might be possible?"

"I’d rather not talk at all."

"Ohh."

***

Ten o’clock found us standing outside the restaurant waiting to meet Trowa. Apparently it wasn’t his night to play, so why meet here I wondered. A few minutes after ten I made out the sounds of tapping hooves on cobblestone, our goat boy had arrived

"Good evening gents, get plenty of rest?" He stepped out from the shadows and smiled at us. Tonight he wore a strange skirt-like garment, and a tight black tank top; the horns on his head were uncovered. I watched them glitter like polished bone, tempted to ask if that’s what they were actually made of.

"No rest, lots of play." I muttered, glancing at Heero slyly.

"So, where is he?" Heero asked, cutting right to the chase.

"You won’t believe this." Trowa waved a hand at us, stamping a hoof in glee and chuckling.

"Try me."

"He’s in Amsterdam."

"That fits." I said, not knowing why it did and yet knowing that it did, somehow.

"Indeed." Pan said, grinning at me.

I turned to Heero, tugging on his arm. "So, when do we leave?"

He looked up, meeting gazes with Trowa.

"Tonight?" The demi god asked.

"Duo?" Heero in turn asked me.

"Alright." I nodded, gesturing down the street. "Let’s go."

***

And just like that, we were on our way to Amsterdam. Within an hour, we’d checked out of our hotel and were lugging the rug down an alley, preparing for take off.

Trowa immediately stepped onto the carpet and sat down at one end of it. "You get a better view up front." He said with a shrug.

I looked at him for a moment, then glanced down at the rug. "How do you know which end is the front?"

"Oh, easy. It’s the end that likes it’s tassels ruffled."

"Then, what’s at the other end?" I pointed at the little tassels adorning the opposite side of the rug.

"Let’s just say, it *really* likes it when you pet that end."

"Enough said."

"I thought so."

"Hang onto something." Heero warned, and seconds later we bounded down the alley, the rug almost joyfully racing straight up into the sky. This time I didn’t even scream. Mostly because Trowa’s leg was in my mouth, guess he wasn’t use to enthusiastic rugs.


	9. Chapter 9

"I want to fly like an eagle into the sea... " I was singing, but I thought I’d pretty much earned the right to. There I was about two thousand feet high, riding a carpet with a Greek demi-god and a Djinni, singing badly at the top of my lungs. The carpet seemed to like it though, occasionally bobbing and weaving in sync with me. *We* were having a great time.

"Duo?" Pan asked from where he sat huddled in the middle of the carpet.

"What?" I looked at him over my shoulder.

"It’s, fly like an eagle *to* the sea." He said, snickering softly before flopping back down.

"So sue me." I muttered, returning to my view of the Adriatic Sea glimmering below, beside it I could just make out a darker blotch to the right that was Yugoslavia at night, no, not Yugoslavia... whatever it was now, though I couldn’t remember for the life of me what that might be.

We’d decided to cut straight up the Adriatic, through Germany and on to the Netherlands, making the trip a little over a thousand miles. It was going to take us roughly three days to get there at the speed we were flying, hence the singing.

It wasn’t like there were in-flight movies, or little blankets and pillows to curl up with, but at the same time, I didn’t have to wear a seatbelt and I had one hell of a view. There were pro’s and con’s, and if I’d been more motivated I could’ve made a list of them to stave of my boredom. Instead, I decided to tease the demi-god.

I inched up beside him, sitting or rather lying, stretched out on the carpet, watching the night sky. Heero was on the other side of me, staring over the edge of the carpet, keeping an eye on the land to the right.

I nonchalantly stretched, tucking my arms behind my head. "So, Pan. How come Cupid never blamed you for the whole forest thing?"

It was a delight to hear the choked gasp he made, and it eased my boredom in an instant.

"What?"

Heero elbowed me, turning to look over his shoulder but not saying anything.

"Well, it seems to me, that Heero got all the blame, when really it was just as much your fault."

If we’d been on the ground, I swear I would have heard crickets chirping in the wake of that little statement.

"Duo," Heero said reproachfully, "Cupid and Eros refusing him until I found love *was* his punishment."

"Seems like an awfully mild punishment to me." I grumbled, turning over to face the rug and lie on my stomach.

"He’s right Heero, it was pretty mild."

"It’s only because he loved you Pan, he didn’t want to hurt you."

"Yes, and he didn’t want to hurt you either."

"So," I looked over at the goat boy, "The reason you got off so lightly is because he loved you? But... if he loved you so much, didn’t he trust you too?"

"Ah," he held up a finger, "That is exactly the point, he *did* trust me, until Aphrodite slipped us that drug and did the added double whammy of turning Heero into a girl whenever he got horny in the forest. I’ve always had a hard time resisting women." He concluded casting a leer over my shoulder at Heero.

"This is why Cupid and Eros haven’t talked to you since then Pan, how am I ever going to get this solved!"

My eyes opened wide in shock. Heero, being angsty and wailing about it? "Heero? It can’t be that bad... I mean, maybe Cupid and Eros have missed Pan." I turned to the god again. "You *have* missed them right?"

"Oh yes, definitely." He nodded vigorously for a moment. "They’ve always been first on my mind."

"On a long, long list." Heero groaned, burying his face in his hands. "This isn’t going to work, they’re never going to take him back."

"Why do you want them to take me back so badly?"

"So that you can get him to help get Aphrodite off my back!" Heero yelled, looking like he wanted to get up and stalk away.

"For all you know she isn’t even interested in you anymore!" Pan yelled back, and I realized I was in the middle of a brewing argument.

"Do you know that for a fact? You know how crazy she is! I do not want her chasing after me and making my life a living hell again!"

They stopped and stared at one another for a long minute, the anger palpable in the air between them, air I happened to be sitting in. I decided I needed to slow this down a bit, backtrack as it were.

"So, we’ll go see Cupid and Eros and find out if they’re willing to help. I mean... for all of Pan’s little... mannerisms, I’m sure they might take him back." I tried on a smile, forgetting my teasing for the moment.

They were still shooting glares across me at each other, and then Heero returned to staring over the edge of the carpet, his back rigid. I sighed, wondering if it were possible for a three-day trip to last forever.

"Do you want them back Pan?"

"Of course," He gave a half strangled moan and turned towards me, his eyes bright green in the moonlight. "You have no idea what they’re like, they’re so, so beautiful and giving, lusty too." He groaned again, shaking his head. "I miss them so much."

"How come you’ve never tried to get them back until now?" I asked curiously, turning over to face him and propping my head up on my hand.

"Because, one of the clauses in this whole affair, was that they wouldn’t even consider having me back until Heero found true love," he paused and grinned at me, "That would be you by the way."

I returned the smile in kind, scooting closer to the warmth of Heero resting at my back. "So where in Amsterdam is he? How did you find out where we have to go?"

"Ah, well he’s a club owner, Club Erato, named after his favorite muse. As for who told me, Dio and Bacchus did, they never bothered to tell me before, they said, because I’ve never asked." He rolled his eyes, sitting up and grinning. "He’s such an asshole."

"Cupid?" I asked stupidly.

"No, Dio and Bacchus."

"Oh." Then I thought of yet another thing I’d been meaning to ask. "How come I can say your name now? And Cupid’s?"

"Well, now that I know about you and Heero, pretty much all bets are off."

"Huh?" I tilted my head, giving him a puzzled look.

"Cupid knows we’re on our way, and he knows why, he probably even knows exactly when we’ll be there." Heero muttered from behind me.

"And as for my name." Pan shrugged. "It doesn’t matter, I just like to mess with humans."

"If you have to call me something, call me Trowa." Heero imitated, then began snickering, stifling it against my shoulder.

"Hey! I thought it was creative!"

"Oh yeah, so creative." Came the muffled response.

"Hmph, well it could have been creative. At any rate Duo, Cupid knows we’re heading that way now, so there’s no point in hiding it or not saying his name. I think if he were angry still, he would’ve done something by now."

The wind was a gentle breeze over my face, my back nestled against Heero, and soon my eyes closed, cutting out the world for a few hours. The conversation pretty much died after that, seeing as how I had fallen asleep.

***

I woke up to the sun streaming in misty clouds over my eyes, and the sound of voices arguing.

"Come on Heero, let’s just do it."

"We can’t, you know how dangerous it is, besides we’ll need three people in order to do it right."

"Listen, we’ve done this before, we can do it again."

"That was so long ago, what if we mess up? And what about Duo? We can’t take the chance."

"How can we mess up? Don’t worry, and I’m sure Duo is a fast enough learner to catch onto the idea. It will make the trip go more quickly."

I heard Heero let out a deep sigh and shift beside me. "Alright, we’ll give it a shot, but if Duo doesn’t like it... "

"Don’t worry, I bet he’ll love it."

I had to say something; I couldn’t stand not having a clue what they were talking about one minute longer. "What will I love?" I sat up and eyed the two of them.

Pan was curled up on his side in front of me, his face serious in the morning light. "Time hopping."

"Oh no, uh uh, no way, not again, I’ve had enough of that thank you." I said rapidly, standing and walking towards the edge of the rug as if I would leap off at the mere mention of time and travel in the same sentence again.

"See? I told you he wouldn’t like it."

"I don’t get it, why wouldn’t he like it?"

"Go on Heero, tell him." I said, turning back towards them and gesturing with one hand.

"I made him travel back in time to Istanbul, to my former self."

"Ohh, nice one." Pan said enthusiastically, slapping Heero’s shoulder and grinning.

"He was my concubine for three months." Heero added, smiling slightly.

"Ohh, very nice." Goat boy said, starting to chuckle.

"And I got him to wish for it without knowing what he was saying." Heero finished with a smug tone.

Pan doubled over, laughing his ass off. I did not find it amusing, as a matter of fact, the whole incident still tended to make me furious. I gave Heero a glare, and kicked him lightly in the thigh.

"I apologized for it didn’t I?" He mumbled, looking up at me sheepishly.

"Not enough apparently." Pan said inbetween fits of laughter.

I nodded, agreeing completely. Heero definitely still owed me for that, and he owed me big time. Eventually I would get a better apology. Briefly, I thought of the many pleasant ways that could be done. Oh yeah, he still owed me all right.

"Ok, enough of that, just tell me about the time hopping." I muttered, sitting down and crossing my arms, wondering when a stewardess would serve breakfast. No such luck on that of course, but I could dream.

"Time hopping usually is best done with three people able to use magic." Pan said, sitting up and assuming a semi-serious pose. I blinked when he snapped his fingers and a pointer appeared in his hand. The blackboard that materialized beside us nearly sent me rolling off the rug in surprise. The little half moon glasses that appeared on his nose however were somewhat cute and did not astonish me. So, I remained mostly calm, and managed to listen to what he was trying to explain.

"The first person needs to keep track of what time it is, no matter how much time we pass through, I’ll handle that since being a god I have a natural feel for time." He smirked and pushed the little glasses up, peering through them at me.

"Heero will handle the distance and watch out for objects that may enter our path within the next few days, hours, minutes, and seconds." He nodded at Heero, who nodded back just as gravely.

"All right, so what about me?"

"You get the hard part," He gestured at the blackboard with the pointer, and I noticed the little piece of chalk on the tip of it.

"The hard part?" Why did I get the feeling that this was not going to be fun?

"First," he drew a little box shape on the board, "This is the rug," he drew three dots on it, "us," he sketched in some fluffy objects to the right of the rug, "clouds."

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, so?"

"Ah!" He held up a finger, "what you need to do is steer the rug, it can’t handle flying through time as well as actually navigate itself. So your job is to take all of the information we give you, about what’s coming up next," he gestured to Heero, " that’ll come from him," he pointed with the chalk at his own chest, "And I will tell what time it is, so that you don’t get lost."

"Whoa," I held up my hands, titling my head and giving him an incredulous look. "So I don’t get lost? I don’t know anything about traveling in time, of course I’ll get us lost!"

"Hold on, it isn’t as hard as it sounds." He gestured placatingly at me, pushing me back down to a sitting position. "Just hear me out before you go getting all bent out of shape." He rolled his eyes. "Humans, yeesh."

"All right, explain." I wrapped my arms around my knees and waited.

"You have to... well you have to navigate for the rug. You see Duo, the rug although now a living thing, isn’t very intelligent, it was only a rug before it was alive. So what Heero taught it only extends so far, it’s knowledge is very limited." He glanced at Heero and nodded.

"You have to become the rug for us Duo." The Djinni said softly from where he sat beside me.

"I what?!"

"Whoa! Hold your horses Duo! It isn’t so bad." Pan pushed me down again; patting my shoulder in what I imagined he thought was a soothing manner.

"It’s not permanent, it’s not painful, and I thought you would like it because you’ll be able to fly." He smiled at me, his vivid green eyes sparkling.

"Fly? What do you mean? I’m flying right now, aren’t I?" I shook my head at him, echoing his smile. "What would be so different?"

"Think of the view, you’d be able to control the speed, the altitude, and you would see as if you were a bird."

And suddenly, it didn’t sound that bad at all. I mean, why not? Who gets to fly like that? Me, that’s who, "Ok, I’ll do it. But how will I know how to use all this information you give me?"

"Oh... well... " Pan and Heero exchanged glances.

"I have to teach you Duo, just like I did the rug, only I have to teach you all about time, once you become the rug, you’ll already know how to fly and navigate."

"Why does this sound like a bad thing? What’s so horrible about teaching me something?"

"Well, for one thing," Pan said, shifting and giving me another serious look. "The teaching takes about 10 minutes, it will last for two hundred years, and in the end you’ll know what it’s like to be... infinite."

There’s not much you can say to a statement like that, except maybe... "Holy shit."

"Yup."


	10. Chapter 10

So, I was going to be a rug. Be... a... rug...

The importance of that didn’t quite hit me until after Heero managed to teach me everything I never wanted to know about ‘time’ in less then ten minutes. As far as it lasting two hundred years, I think Pan had meant that sarcastically, then again, maybe not. The teaching if I had gone through it normally, would’ve most likely taken two hundred years merely to gather the information, let alone learn and comprehend it.

I’d heard of feeling like you’re being stepped all over, I had heard of a lot of things, but had never actually known what it was like to be anything other than myself. Even in ancient Istanbul I’d been myself at all times, despite the fact that I’d been running around dressed like a woman most of the time.

To be a rug, was to be something completely different from everything I’d ever known. I could feel my threads extending the length of my ‘body’. I could feel the two passengers on my back only as a comforting weight, which I found odd, mostly because it really was comforting to feel them. And deep in the back of my mind, I could feel the tiny, bright consciousness of the rug itself, it was with me, warm and friendly, like a puppy with high intelligence.

Taking directions was much easier then I had thought it would be, the various equations and near precognition instantly seemed to go through my mind and become sorted into something I could comprehend. The time hopping seemed like a blurred object coming closer. It’s the only way to describe what I was able to see, since the rug didn’t have eyes. Mostly I watched ahead with the threads, they turned out to be an intricate mapping and guiding system that was probably more complex then a set of sonic jet controls.

The trip still took three days to complete, but those three days passed within minutes, the rug and I shifting us ahead in time, avoiding collisions, or same dimensional merging. In no time at all, or all the time in the world, Amsterdam lay below in the morning light, a shimmering fog spreading across most of Holland like a silvery blanket.

I felt the sensations of the two bodies sitting on me, shifting and talking together, and then Heero’s mouth pressed against my threads lightly, as he whispered final instructions for landing, I felt it as a vibration along the weaving of my threads. If sound had been something I was capable of, I would’ve laughed as we plunged straight down, giving Pan a case of permanent acrophobia.

The street rushed up at us, cobblestones in high relief as I swooped at the last possible moment and settled gently to the ground with a soft thump. I twitched a few tassels, stretching and bumping the two passengers off my back unceremoniously.

Then, according to what Heero had told me to do after landing, I stretched further until I managed to balance on one end, and then twisted myself into a roll. California roll a la Duo. The next thing I became aware of was the rug wrapping tightly around me with my hands and feet sticking out. I wiggled my fingers and felt someone pick up the rug and lay it down, jerking the free end of it so that I rolled out to spill onto the ground.

"Nice flying, human." Muttered Pan, glowering at me where I lay.

"You’re just mad because there was nothing to hold onto without Heero glaring at you." I said, taking Heero’s proffered hand and brushing off my jeans. Amsterdam was a hell of a lot colder then Athens had been, and it was starting to rain a fine drizzling mist. I turned to Heero, eyeing his wisely worn jeans and jacket. "I didn’t think it would be this cold. I couldn’t feel it when I was the rug."

Heero smiled at me, offering a warm looking jacket that appeared in his hand, then he bent down, rolling up the rug, and tucking it under one arm.

"Thanks. So now what do we do?" I slipped the jacket over my arms, snuggling into it and zipping it all the way up, ice-cold water had already been seeping into my hair, and trickling down the back of my neck.

"Now, we go get a hotel, and then, we have some time to kill until tonight." Heero said hooking his arm around mine.

"Ugh, don’t ever mention time to me again. Though killing some might be nice." I said with a groan as we began walking towards the street.

Pan chuckled, little hoofs clicking on the cobblestones behind us.

***

Have you ever played a video game for such a long time, that when you stopped playing you still found yourself thinking in terms of the game? Well, I was doing that with being a rug. I kept trying to swoop at the most embarrassing moments, and while we were checking into the hotel, I kept thinking people were trying to touch my tassels. It was a very strange thing to be feeling.

We had decided Pan needed his own room, seeing as how we had more then enough money for it, and I wanted a room ‘alone’ with my Djinni. I’d been feeling disgruntled ever since having found out Pan had slept with Heero. It didn’t matter that it had taken place a few thousand years ago, it had happened, and that’s what bothered me the most. So, this was jealousy, without reason or rhyme. Of course it didn’t make any sense, jealousy never does. All I knew was that Pan got on my nerves.

The room turned out to be one of the biggest ones we’d gotten yet, a large, king sized bed filling a good portion of it, deep beige carpet, long sheer curtains over the windows. The first thing I did after I took off my shoes, was tackle Heero, flying up to him and pushing him over onto the bed, to land with a loud ‘oof’ with me on top.

"It’s been a while since we’ve been alone." I murmured, smiling down at his surprised expression.

"It has only been two days, Duo." He said, returning my smile never the less, running his hands up my ribs to curve around and under my arms. His fingers tensed and traced along my skin.

"I know, but that’s too long, I want sex. Now." I shifted, sliding against him, legs spread and laying on either side of his waist. I could feel him already hard beneath me.

"Sex?" He asked, leaning up to nibble at my neck.

"Yup." I grinned.

"Now?" His hands slid up under the shirt I had on, rubbing in small heated circles against my chest. Then growing impatient, he growled and slid the shirt over my head, tossing it away. His mouth fastened onto a nipple, teeth whispering over it.

"Mmm... right now." No matter how many times he touched me, no matter what we went through together, he would always send fire racing along my nerves. Maybe that’s what love is, never losing that feeling.

"One condition," I moaned, rolling my hips, and arching against his mouth where it was running wet trails over my body.

"There’s conditions now?" He lifted his head to give me an incredulous look, his hands slipping down to start unfastening my jeans.

"Yeah... mmm... that’s nice." His fingers slipped inside my pants, teasingly light as they stroked my erection.

"So," His lips nibbled their way up my neck, breath hot in my ear. "What’s the condition?"

"Oohh... just that we... do it again ... after this." I threaded my fingers through his hair, pulling his head around to kiss him. His mouth tasted so familiar, sweet, spicy, and eternally his. I lapped at his tongue like the ambrosia it was, pushing against him, trying to gain more and more access to whatever I could. His hand increased pressure on my cock, sliding harder and more forcefully as I popped the buttons off his shirt. One of my hands took advantage of all that smooth, bare skin, while the other hand took a route downwards to undo his pants and free the treat inside.

"Too many clothes." He muttered, pulling his mouth from mine and wiping a hand down my jeans. I watched as they fell apart at the seams, splitting open and slithering to the bed around us.

"Nice trick, do it to yours." I laughed, sliding down his legs to wrap my mouth around him the instant his pants disintegrated. Everything tasted good on him, even the little bit of cum that leaked from the tip of his arousal, with just that hint of something spicy. "Yumm." I murmured.

He started to laugh, pulling me up to his mouth again to steal kisses with his tongue, and take over every thought within my head. "Yumm?" he asked, pulling back and staring into my eyes.

They slowly drifted back into focus, my mind on meltdown. "Definitely delicious, I love your taste."

"Ohh?"

His eyelashes felt like feathers against my cheek as he kissed me again, soft and gentle this time, the slide of his tongue caressing mine sending a tremor straight to my gut with all the force of an earthquake. His hands slid down my sides, running lightly along my skin, tracing patterns over my back. Then they slipped down slightly, curving around me and lifting until I straddled his lap again.

"You don’t taste so bad yourself." He whispered in a panting voice, his fingers teasing around the entrance to my body, making me crave him inside of me.

I felt like whining, begging him to do it, take me, make me senseless. Instead, his hands kept fluttering over my body, barely grazing. His lips smiled, taking nipping little kisses from my mouth for a moment.

"I love seeing you like this." He grinned, chuckling slightly, and I swore I heard the sound of a tiny cork being popped open.

"Like what?" I looked up from my study of his neck with my tongue, meeting his eyes.

"So wanting." He said, one of his hands ghosting down my back, followed by a surprisingly oil slick finger slipping inside of me.

"Hey! Uhmmm... " Already I lost track of any thought, turning boneless and tense all at once, as a second slippery digit followed closely on the heels of the first one. My mouth opened to emit a few choice moans as he continued moving those hot fingers inside of me, sliding and slithering, one of his hands braced on my hip to help me ride them.

"Open your eyes Duo." I couldn’t resist such a purred suggestion, the way it rumbled out of him, dripping with desire. Other things seemed to be dripping with desire as well, namely the thing between my legs and the thing between his. I opened my eyes, but only to look down between our bodies, my hand automatically wrapping around his heated arousal, one thumb rubbing the wet tip of it in little circles. His hand closed around mine, lifting it to his shoulder, and I glanced up at him, wondering what he wanted.

"I want you to look at me, I want to see it in your eyes, what I do to you."

I bit back a groan, throbbing at the mere idea of it. Slowly I brought my eyes up to his, drowning instantly in the depth of them. The fingers still pumping inside of me were joined by another, the pace picking up as they began slamming into my body. I could see the effect of it in his eyes, could tell he wanted me, wanted to take me and fuck me into the bed, but he was holding back. "Why?"

He didn’t answer for a moment, instead shifting us slightly and lifting my hips up while slipping those pleasuring fingers out. "Because, I want to show you that you *are* mine."

I realized, meeting his gaze as he sank deep inside of me, connecting our bodies, that he was just as unsure about having my love as I was about his. And then, once again, all thought was erased as the pulse of his length inside contracted my muscles, and put my mind into the form of mush. My eyelids began growing heavier, the shallow thrusting of his hips, harsh breathing, and the feel of him smooth against me, all combining to make me lose my senses.

"Open your eyes Duo." He whispered, one of his hands coming up to brush the side of my face.

Just as I opened my eyes again, he pulled out, drawing down slowly, his breath hissing between his lips as he slammed back up, wringing a sobbing moan from my mouth. His eyes looked like there were flames behind them, shimmering with something dark and needy, paradise. It was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen, that look, and the intensity picked up once more, his body driving up and into my own.

When I thought it couldn’t get any better, he hooked his arms beneath my knees, lifting them and holding them higher, spreading my legs and sending his cock so deep inside it felt like I was being torn in two in the best of ways. My hands circled his neck, needing something to hold onto through the storm of feelings and sensations.

At that point, eye contact was a lost cause, my mouth opening to emit whimpering cries that I didn’t even recognize as my own, his mouth meeting mine in an answering moan, tongue sliding inside to play while his body kept pounding.

I could never figure out why it was, when it felt that good, the only words capable of forming were his name and god’s. Maybe it was because when he was with me like that, he was my god. Once again, he reduced me to voicing at high volume that he was my god, my only god, and please just go deeper, stay inside me forever.

What finally sent me over the utter edge of lust and sanity was his hoarse groaning of my name, and the word that seemed to hound us, love. It hit me like a meltdown on full power, sending my seed spilling across our stomachs, my voice raised to such a high shout I thought the ceiling might fall in on us.

"Love." He whispered letting my legs down and pulling me close against him, kissing away the tears I didn’t even notice had been falling. Intense is a word I might use to describe what had just happened, happy is a word I would of used to describe my feelings at the moment. Love, love was the word I couldn’t seem to say to him, even though it was on the edge of my tongue, so easy to say, yet so hard to get out.

"Heero... mine." Was all I managed, collapsing completely into his arms, nuzzling the sweat that was wetting his neck and shoulder. I stuck out the tip of my tongue, lapping up some of it, surprised to find it too tasted yummy. "Djinnlicious." I said, laughing against his cheek.

***

"So what should we wear?" I was standing in the bathroom looking into the full-length mirror on the inside of the door. Only a few minor marks showed from the romping we’d done earlier. I glanced up from my scrutiny of my neck and met Heero’s eyes in the mirror.

"Black, tight, loose, whatever, as long as it looks good. Pan told me the club let’s anyone in as long as they’re attractive in some way."

"Hm, that’s interesting. So, if I was completely disgusting to look at, but I had really nice eyes or something, they’d let me in?" I lifted the hair off the back of my neck, wondering how to wear it for the evening.

"Yes, Cupid and Eros believe every person has at least one thing beautiful about them." He stepped closer, smiling at my reflection, hands slipping around my waist to pull me back against him.

"I think I like them already." I grinned, caressing his hip." But, I need to get dressed, and so do you, so figure out what I can wear so we can leave already."

"Hmm." He stepped back, eyeing me from head to toe.

"Fashion designing Heero?" I lifted an eyebrow, as he nodded. Looking down I realized he’d made a pair of black flowing pants appear on me. "Ok, how about a shirt?"

He grinned, and a tight black t-shirt snuggled against my chest, it was sleeveless, riding up to show off my stomach in flashes of tan flesh. "Nice, you know these pants remind of those damned harem outfits."

"Yes." He touched my neck and I felt a tight band wrap around it.

"The collar too?"

"Well, you are mine." He said with a little smirk.

"Hm, you’re so nostalgic sometimes. Now figure out what you’re gonna wear and... " I trailed off, the clothes that appeared on his body forcing my mouth to freeze mid-sentence. I suddenly understood how Pavlov got those dogs to drool. "Leather?"

"Does it look ok?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes coquettishly. I laughed as he spun around and bent over slightly, showing off his tight leather clad ass.

"Oh yeah, and you’d better stop that before I forget why we had to get dressed in the first place." He straightened up, swiveling his hips slightly as he walked towards me. I rolled my eyes, "Tease."

"If you two are done flirting, can we get out of here?"

I glared at Pan, who was standing in the doorway, leaning nonchalantly against the frame. Then I blinked, taking in his outfit. Well, he was a demi-god, which could explain the aura of sex that seemed to slither off his skin in pulsing waves. The clothes he wore however, accompanied by that undercurrent... once again, my mouth went dry. "Wow."

He grinned, "You like? I wanted to be sure to wear something... eye-catching."

I had thought, that perhaps he could change those goat legs, I had wondered if he contained so much power, why he didn’t. Instead, he always wore loose pants to hide them, pretending to be crippled in some gory way. But he’d changed them. His legs were definitely human, and skintight was the word I was looking for, skintight and blatantly male in all the right ways. He looked like what you would imagine a woodland nymph to look like. Soft and fringed suede-like material hugging his body, his horns polished like little stars, it was like he was made of forest. Loam, soil, water, flowers, trees, that green and lush smell that comes after a rain in a glen.

"Yeah, I think that’ll work." Without even thinking about it, I found myself grasping Heero’s hand, looking up at his face, trying to read his eyes. I don’t know if it gratified me that he was already staring at me, or if it horrified me, the expression of pain in them. Love is such a hard word to say sometimes, even when it’s called for, needed. I tried to let him know with a look.

"Let’s get going, the night is calling and I want to see the show." Pan said, stamping out of the room on normal human feet.

"Heero, I... " I started to say, then stopped, shutting my mouth and tugging him out of the room. The night called, and I too wanted to see a show.


	11. Chapter 11

We hit the street a few minutes later, the chill of the night instantly making its way straight through my clothes and over my skin. I shivered and huddled closer to Heero, who didn’t seem to be feeling the cold as much as I was, my guess was that leather actually kept you warm, unlike what I was wearing.

Pan walked ahead of us, looking eager to get to the club and see his long lost love again. Every now and then, he would even skip in his steps, his excitement showing palpably.

We didn’t speak much on our way to the club; I suppose all conversation had been stalled, nervousness, excitement, and anticipation stringing us all up in high spirits for the evening. I held Heero’s hand, tugging him along beside me, glancing up at his face occasionally, wondering what he was thinking.

It bothered me that I couldn’t tell him how much I loved him; it was like some odd spell had been cast upon my lips, sealing them against vows of affection and devotion. Then again, perhaps I was just afraid of the future, afraid of what I could or couldn’t have, afraid of what I could lose.

The club wasn’t too hard to miss, if you had excellent night vision that is. The lettering of the small sign over the stairwell read "Erato" in black on black. Though there was a statue next to the entrance at the bottom of the stairs, a statue of a pretty young woman holding a lyre and smiling secretly at all who entered the club.

"Erato." Trowa said, pointing at her as he pushed open the door.

That door opening was the beginning of what was going to turn out to be one of the most fantastic and weird nights of my life. I don’t think I would’ve been any less surprised, even if I had been there before.

The door swung open on to utter blackness, darkness that seemed thick and heavy, cloying almost. With a shrug, Pan walked straight through it, leaving Heero and I standing there for a moment to look at each other.

"You sure you want to do this?" I asked Heero, glancing up and meeting his eyes in the dim stairwell.

"Are you sure you want to?" He asked in turn, lifting my hand up to his face and nuzzling it for a moment.

"Yeah, I think we have to, come on." I smiled, pulling him along behind as I stepped through the midnight doorway, and into the world of Cupid and Eros.

***

Club Erato was huge. After I stepped through the doorway, I stood in a short hall that led to a light at the end of it, a light so bright that I couldn’t make out what was on the other side of it. I could hear the undercurrent of many voices talking and shouting, laughing, singing, moaning. The smell, well, that was the oddest thing, it smelled like... love. You might ask what on earth love smells like, and I had to wonder myself.

Love smells like, something soothing, soft, gentle, coaxing, it was, well, it was love. And as with love, right beneath all those mild compassionate scents laid the center of it all, lust.

We walked together down the short hallway, Pan waiting impatiently in front of the bright light at the end. The floor was ordinary stone, the walls also made of rock, and I felt like I was going into a wartime bunker, except for the steady beat of music through the soles of my feet.

Pan stopped me with a hand on my arm, as I stepped towards the door ready to go in. His eyes had taken on a serious look, mouth set firmly.

"A god’s domain reacts oddly on other magical creatures, you’re going to feel a bit strange when you go through this door and get in there. Don’t be surprised if you can suddenly read minds." He smiled, and with that, turned and walked through the light.

I raised an eyebrow and looked up at Heero. "Mind reading?"

"Don’t worry, you should be able to handle it." The reassuring smile did nothing to calm my racing heart as I gulped and walked through the door, Heero’s hand still firmly held in my own.

The piercing light seemed to filter directly into my mind as I passed through it, beaming into my senses, opening them, or so it seemed. And then I was through and on the other side, the music and voices I’d heard before so loud as to be a solid wave of sound.

It wasn’t the mass of people that shocked me the most, though the writhing crowd of what looked to be over a thousand people, was enough to startle me. What really intrigued and even somewhat frightened me was the size of the place from the inside. It was as big as a football stadium; the ceilings going up so high you couldn’t see where they ended. The length and breadth so long it looked to be a mile or so. Lights flashed, bodies moved and breathed, and then it hit me, the minds of all the people.

I felt my knees begin to buckle, the thoughts of the masses drowning out my own thoughts, their voices filling my head with a ceaseless babbling. They were happy, lusty, and waiting for something. I felt Heero’s hand on my arm, helping me remain upright.

His lips pressed against my ear and he whispered over the noise. "Just block them out, if you try to take in all of them you’ll go mad."

I nodded, realizing that he was right and I could block all those feelings and thoughts. I noticed that if I concentrated, I could even pick out individuals to listen to.

"Heero, do they know I can hear what they’re thinking?" I asked him, rising up on my tiptoes to whisper it into his ear. He shook his head no, turning slightly and kissing me before tugging us across the floor and towards where Pan stood.

"What now?" I asked, glancing around at the milling bodies, noticing for the first time that there was stages set up all along the perimeter of the club.

"Now we wait, and try to enjoy ourselves." Pan said, leaning close to me, his lips brushing my ear. "Listen to the minds for a while, you might find them interesting."

I tilted my head, gazing about and zeroing in on a likely looking man standing to one side. He had short dark hair and an equally dark business suit on. Beside him stood another man in a dress, and beside that man, stood a woman in leather. It went on like that person after person, they were all different, everyone one of them an individual. I spotted a girl who looked to be around my age, her foot tapping idly in time to the music, long hair falling to her waist, she was wearing absolutely nothing. I stared at her for a while, and then let my eyes drift again, noting others in similar states of undress.

Finally, I decided to try to pick one to see what they were thinking. A tall stately woman brushed by us, heading towards one of the many dance floors that were littered throughout the club. Her hair was held up in a high bun, her clothes tight and dark, boots spiked with wicked heels.

Opening my mind to her, I found myself immersed in her, knowing her instantly. Her name was Merla Chross, she was German born, raised in America, and she was on vacation, hoping to get laid while visiting Amsterdam. She knew this was the place to go, one of her friends back home having told her about it. I withdrew my mind from hers, feeling strangely empty as her thoughts slid through mine and were gone. It had felt odd to be that close to a stranger.

Idly I picked another one, a fat man that was trying to dance on one of the floors, his belly jiggling as his feet flew out and back. His name was Jack Ilmon, and he was a killer. I reeled back in surprise at the vividness of the blood that washed the dead figures in his mind, shuddering at the evil that this man hid so well. Maybe mind reading wasn’t such a good idea, I suddenly felt as if my brain needed a bath.

Heero squeezed my hand, pointing at a man standing near one of the stages staring up at the lights. "You see that one?" He whispered. I nodded, sending my mind out to the man, slipping inside his head.

Paul Hundel, and this one was different from the other minds, because only one thought was going through his head. He was waiting for the show to begin. I frowned, wondering what show he was waiting for, and delved myself further inside his riveted mind. I could see his memories of previous shows, though the figures on the stage were blurred, as if even he wasn’t quite sure what he’d seen.

"Weird." I mumbled, picking out another of the people who stood waiting by a different stage. A blond girl, hair cut short, wearing a small black skirt, high heels and a tight t-shirt. She was in love, and her name was Rachael Kildare. I smiled at her thoughts, they were filled with sweet smells and gentle touches, she too remembered previous shows, but once again, the figures on the stage of her memory were blurred and indistinct.

"Heero? How come they don’t remember what the dancers look like?" I whispered, tugging his head down to my mouth.

"Ahh, so you noticed that the figures on the stage were dancing? It means that whoever the dancers were, they are gods. Only a god could manage to do what these people recall having seen but yet don’t remember clearly."

"Will we remember?"

He turned his head, cobalt eyes meeting mine. "Of course, we’re not human. If these people truly remembered what they’d seen, they would probably not remain sane for very long."

"Hm, weird."

"Indeed."

Just then, the lights flashed three times, and the music ground to an abrupt halt, the sound of over a thousand people instantly shutting their mouths and holding their breath was amazing. The show was about to begin.

A stage all the way at the end of the great room lit up, showing a set of dark velveteen curtains slowing pulling apart. On the stage stood two mirrors, and a set of stairs, it looked almost like a set for a play. Two rooms, one on top of the other, like an apartment building. In the top room, I could clearly see a small bed, a full-length mirror, and a dresser with items lying on top of it. I swung my eyes downwards; noticing the "room" below it looked exactly the same, though the cover on the downstairs bed was a softer tone.

The crowd surged towards the stage, intensely quiet, almost as if they’d suddenly been hypnotized. I moved to follow them, only to be held back by Heero’s hand on my elbow and Pan’s hand on my wrist. They both looked at me and then glanced at each other.

Heero smiled down at me, pointing upwards at the giant and currently blank television screens that lined half of the room. I nodded, understanding that we would stay where we were to watch the show.

The huge screens flickered and came to life, showing the stage from several different angles and vantage points. Music suddenly began blaring into the otherwise still room, the beat single and intense. It built, ascending in it’s movement into something pulsing and pounding, something that captured the blood with its pattern. It was dance music, a song I’d even heard before playing on the radio back home.

Suddenly the beat hit a climax, and a piano began to play softly, as the beat unfolded from within it. The lights dimmed slightly and a figure walked into the upstairs room of the stage, moving perfectly in harmony with the music, and then he turned, and I felt my mouth go dry.

He was absolutely beautiful, hair a golden blond, body perfectly marble, slim build. He was clad only in a pair of boxershorts, bare feet tapping to the music as he moved about the room, swinging his hips to the rhythm and for all the world looking like someone getting ready to go out for a night on the town. There was even a radio sitting on his dresser, supposedly the source of the blaring music.

The lyrics to the song began, the boy sliding open a dresser drawer, taking out some clothes. I flicked my eyes from screen to screen along the ceiling, they gave an absolutely crystal view of everything the blond did.

In time with the music he dressed, slipping on a pair of tight pants, a form fitting shirt and a pair of boots. As the music began with its heavy beat again, he danced a little to it, as one would in trying to get worked up for going out to a club. He stood in front of the mirror, running a hand through his hair, leaning close to his reflection, feet moving with the music.

And then a light blinked on in the room below, a girl entering it and looking around before sitting on the bed. She took off her shoes and jacket, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a different set of clothes. Her hair was wheat blond, striking about the middle of her back. From the different camera angles, I could see that she had soft blue eyes and a perfect face. She too turned on her radio; apparently, it was playing the same song.

I felt like I was watching a live video, a very strange live video, which included nudity. The girl was sliding out of her skirt and shirt and slipping into a short blue dress. Sliding on a pair of high heels she stood in front of her mirror, applying lipstick and dancing. It took me a few moments to realize that both dancers were completely synchronized, moving flawlessly together to the music.

My eyes were glued to the stage, the two dancers entrancing in their movement, as if utterly unaware of their audience. Then, I noticed their reflections in the full-length mirrors they each danced in front of. Normally, a reflection will of course reflect the image in front of it, in this case, it did, sort of.

What I was starting to notice, as the beat began picking up, becoming fierce and lusty, was that their reflections, whenever they turned around, would dance without them. Everytime their backs were turned the reflections moved, dancing within their mirror prisons. At first, the dancers were seemingly oblivious to this, dancing around their individual rooms, fixing their hair, checking out their bodies in the mirror, and straightening their clothes. Then it happened, the boy dancing in the top room turned with his back to the mirror, arching his back and swiveling his hips in a sexual invitation.

I watched as a pair of hands slid out of the mirror behind him, not touching, but moving with his body, as if someone stood behind him and danced with him. When he turned, the hands didn’t slip back in, and instead a completely separate person stepped out of the mirror. But, it was the same boy, an absolute twin.

I blinked in surprise, that hadn’t been a trick mirror, it couldn’t be, because even without the cameras, you could see behind the mirror, and tell, it was only a regular full-length mirror, no tricks involved. This was Cupid and Eros then, it must be. But then, whom was the girl dancing below? I turned my eyes back to her, realizing for the first time that she too was now dancing with her real live reflection. Only, her reflection didn’t look a thing like her when it stepped out of the mirror.

It looked like a completely different girl, long white blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and the strangest eyebrows I’d ever seen. She was dressed in the same dress as the girl, except her outfit was pure black.

Once more, the music began to strike its climax, the beat swelling, almost rapturous in its intensity. The boys above, the twins, were dancing erotically with each other, one of them with his leg slung over the other’s hip, grinding together to the beat. Then they swung around the upstairs room, moving beautifully, a perfect fit, a perfect match. No wonder Pan was in love with the two of them.

It was at this point the beds came into play; the twins upstairs running hands over each other’s bodies, lithe limbs and shining hair catching the eye. The way they were moving wasn’t just a sexual imitation, it was sex concentrated. Watching them, I felt like they should be diluted somehow, the effect of their movements and beauty too much, piercing, intense, as if, were I to focus, I would be able to feel their skin against my own.

They swayed towards the bed, one boy backing the other against it, slowly pushing him down to the beat of the music, a lazy caress, a kiss and a slide. I swore I could hear the slip of cloth being pushed off a shoulder, the sexual heat of a mouth slithering over skin. The beat of the music was swelling once more, picking up and ascending towards a crescendo. One of the blond boys was spread legged and half collapsed on the bed, his shirt off and thrown on the floor, hands reaching for his partner.

Then, the mirror image flickered as the music roared towards an ending, his body becoming transparent and solidifying in waves. With a longing look at the boy on the bed, the reflection stood, stepping swiftly back towards the mirror and melting into it.

I glanced below at the two girls and discovered them in much the same situation, the girl in blue lying on the bed, looking dazedly on as the girl in black walked towards her mirror, hips rolling as she stepped into it. The music shimmered and both of the images turned just as both figures on the beds sat up and stared at them.

The beat froze for a moment as they all exchanged looks, and then the two on the beds were up, slowly walking to the mirrors, hands moving towards their reflections in perfect synchronicity. The blare of the music once more became a soft piano; trickling notes and the shuddering slide of a synthesizer beginning to swell into existence behind the piano music.

Just when I thought the song would end, the hands that each of the players had been bringing up to touch their reflections were grabbed, and both were pulled inside the mirrors. Their images tugging them close and whirling them further back, away from the rooms that stood on the other side and farther within the mirrors.

A flashing beat flared up, and clothes began flying out of the mirror, amazingly folding themselves in midair and sliding back into the drawers, shoes slipping beneath the beds. The lights dimmed, and as the music ended, the figures within the mirrors could just be seen, wrapped around one another in blissfully sensual poses. Then the lights blinked out, and the room exploded into a roar of applause, shouting, and whistling.

I sat for a few moments with my mouth hanging open; I’d never in my entire life seen a show as fantastic. The movements, the dancing, even the music, it had all been perfectly timed, no mistakes, no errors, just absolute and perfect dancing.

I turned, glancing over at Heero, and felt my mouth drop open even more at the look of him. He was so pale as to be white, all blood having been drained from his face. His eyes still glued to the stage, mouth moving silently.

"Heero? What’s the matter?" I asked, moving towards him, looking up into his face and patting his cheek. His eyes seemed to focus from a far off place, finally noticing me and giving me a blank and horrified look. "What is it? What’s wrong?" I’d never seen him like this, and for one of the few times since I’d met him, I realized Heero was afraid.

"The dancers down below," He gasped, his hand coming to my face, eyes intense. "That was Aphrodite and Venus."

His eyes widened slightly as he glanced up at something directly behind me, I felt someone tap my shoulder, and turning, I came face to face with the goddess of love.


	12. Chapter 12

Actually, I had to look down to see the face of the goddess Aphrodite, as she came up only to my shoulder. Who knew a Greek goddess would be so short? When I finally did bend down a bit so I could see her face, I noticed she was smiling at me, a real smile. She didn’t look at all like the calculating love goddess I had pictured, and she didn’t have any fangs or horns, nothing evil looking about her. So why was Heero so afraid of her?

As if to answer my unspoken thoughts, she opened her mouth. "Heero!" And then she leapt on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and snuggling her head against his shoulder, still with that completely disarming smile in place.

Question answered, I glanced over at Pan, wondering how he was taking everything, and found he wasn’t there. I scanned the crowd, looking for the sheen of light off a horn, maybe some of that weird haircut sticking up, nothing, no sign of him.

In the meantime, Heero had managed to finally peel the small goddess off, setting her on the floor. He gave me a look that clearly said he was not happy, and I nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"Aphy! Get your claws off the poor Djinni!"

We all whipped around to eye the girl who strode up to us. I recognized her almost immediately as the other side of love, Venus. She was actually very attractive, though her eyebrows looked somewhat odd, splitting as they did, and reminding me of Dionysus. Briefly, I speculated whether they might be related somehow, then I remembered that the gods ways were definitely not those of man, and that most ancient myths read like soap operas.

"Eek! Venus! I wasn’t doing anything, just saying ‘hi’ I swear!" The shorter goddess inched away from Heero, sliding over beside her other half.

"I was only greeting Heero, it has been," Aphrodite sighed, melodramatically pressing her hand to her heart, "So long!" She sniffled, and clung to Venus, looking up at the blond girl and batting her eyelashes.

I tried not to roll my eyes at the display, leaning over to whisper into Heero’s ear. "She didn’t hurt you or anything, did she?" He smiled slightly, shaking his head ‘no’.

"Heero," Venus was holding out her hand and looking at both of us directly, ignoring her still clinging partner.

Heero smiled, clasping her arm before surprisingly pulling her into a hug. I backed up, startled for a moment. Aphrodite looked to be just as shocked by the display. We met eyes, neither one of us having an answer. Then she smiled at me, waving her fingers in a little ‘hello’ gesture.

"Hi! I’m Aphy," She grinned at me, extending her hand. I took it in mine, surprised to find it felt like a perfectly normal hand. I’d been half expecting a shock or strange feeling from her, but she seemed normal enough, more so then any of the other gods I’d met so far.

"Duo Maxwell," I grinned back at her, letting go of her hand.

"I know who you are."

I blinked at her and she leaned closer, standing on tiptoes to whisper in my ear. "You’re the reason I can’t touch my Heero anymore, I hate true love." Then she leaned back, her smile still in place.

"What?" I asked stupidly, wondering just how crazy she might be, and whether she was dangerous or not.

"True love, it stinks." She said firmly.

Venus, who’d be quietly chatting with Heero, and I wondered if perhaps she’d been saying much the same, turned around and said over her shoulder. "She can’t interfere with true love, it goes against the grain, so to speak." She smiled at me and began talking to Heero once more, leaving me to stare at Aphy.

"She’s absolutely right of course, but I don’t have to like it." Aphrodite leaned close again, and I found myself backing up a step. "Oh please, I can’t hurt you either, I can’t even put a curse on you, hmph." She crossed her arms, looking peeved.

"Then, it’s all ok?" I asked, unable to believe that all that traveling around had been for no reason.

"Yup!" She beamed. "Sucks, huh?"

"Well, if you don’t mind my saying, I don’t think it’s that bad at all." For a moment, I thought I’d gone too far, pushed the goddess to her limit. But then she smiled at me, taking my arm.

"Oh, it’s no problem. Actually I’m happy without Heero, though he was tons of fun to chase." She began tugging me, and I reached around, snagging Heero’s hand. I was just a little bit nervous at the idea of being alone with this girl-goddess.

"Where are we going?" I asked as she started heading for one of the many stages lining the walls.

"Downstairs, our private quarters are down there, and a friend of yours." She deftly weaved through a thicket of people, and we came face to face with a blank wall inbetween two of the stages. Running a fingertip down the wall, she rapped a knuckle against it, and it opened slowly inwards. I raised an eyebrow, glancing behind at all the people who were watching.

"Aren’t you worried they’ll come inspecting this door?"

"They don’t see a thing."

"If you say so, but they certainly look like they’re all noticing." I said, nervously tugging on Heero’s hand as Aphrodite led me through the doorway. Once again, I found myself in a small-stonewalled hallway with a light at the end of it. Only one thing made it slightly different than the entrance of the club, and that was the two blond boys crawling all over Pan.

Pan lay slumped against one of the walls, his eyes closed, an arm loosely slung about one of the blonde’s necks, his other hand occupied with getting a firmer grip on the hip of the blond who was tugging his pants down, or trying to. He looked to be enjoying all the attention thoroughly, his mouth open, slight moans rolling down the hall to sprinkle like pheromones over us.

Everyone froze for a moment, still life of interrupted sex scene, well, that’s what I would have titled it at any rate. Then, the unmoving instant was shattered by the small chuckle that escaped from Heero.

"Looks like they’ve forgiven you Pan!" He boomed out through the laughter that seemed to grow louder the more he looked at the threesome.

"If that’s not forgiven then I don’t know what would be." I muttered under my breath, watching one delicate and pale hand wiggle it’s way down Pan’s pants to settle firmly around the obvious erection there.

I was still finding it difficult to believe that our journey was over, everyone was forgiven, the gods wouldn’t be bothering Heero and I, and Pan was back with his true loves. So why did I have this feeling that it wasn’t over yet?

"Come on, let’s go have a drink." Venus said, leading us towards Pan and his loves, and snagging one of the blonde’s by the waistband of his pants as we walked by. "Eros, come be social instead of sexual."

I chuckled; smirking at Pan as he and the leftover blond boy, who I assumed to be Cupid, gave us startled looks and followed.

The light at the end of this tunnel seemed to have the same affect as the other one had, only this time my mind expanded and opened until I could almost hear the god’s thoughts. Lust was the overriding feeling emanating from them. We stepped through the doorway and into what looked like for all the world to be a harem.

Silks cascaded from the ceiling, piles of pillows and low divans scattered about the wide circular room. Glancing up I noticed the stars were visible through a large pane of glass in the roof, colors refracting the moonlight and draping the room in rainbows of night. Heero tugged me gently over to a giant pile of soft pillows, pulling me down to sit beside him, a possessive arm wrapping around my waist.

Pan sat beside us, the blond boys, who had so far remained silent, settled on either side of him, slim white arms tangling around him as they whispered in his ears. I realized Pan’s legs had gone back to their original shape, once more becoming goat like, perhaps due to being unable to concentrate around the two boy-gods. Not, I noticed, that the boys seemed to mind, one of them taking a particular interest in peering under the waistband of the baggy pants that had replaced the skintight ones. I watched as he smirked and tugged the other blond over, both of them peering down Pan’s pants and giggling to each other.

Venus marched over and tugged them apart, giving them both a severe and admonishing look before settling herself on another pile of pillows and pulling Aphrodite down to rest at her feet. She smiled at me, petting the wheat colored hair of the content goddess. "What would you like to drink Duo, our refreshments are supplied by Dio and Bacchus, so we have whatever you desire."

I returned her smile, realizing she was probably the sanest of the group at the moment. "I’d like a few questions answered I think." I said matter of factly, glancing at Heero before going on. "Is everything truly forgiven? Are we free now? No gods will bother us anymore?" She nodded after each question, smiling at the last.

"We will only *bother* you if you ask it of us, from now on. But there is one more thing you must do, for the record as it were." The others nodded, one of the blonds stood up, dragging the other to his feet, Venus pulling Aphrodite to her feet, until all four gods surrounded Heero and I. "You must prove your love is real. You see, we know it is, but it has come to our attention that you have yet to prove it in an oral sense."

I blinked up at Venus. "Orally? But I’ve loved Heero like that before." My eyebrows drew together in puzzlement.

"Silly." One of the boys said reprovingly, nudging my leg with a bare foot. "Not *that* kind of love. She means you haven’t actually said the words yet."

The other blond boy nodded, bending down slightly and meeting my eyes. "Speaking your love is almost as important as the physical aspects, words have power."

I turned to look at Heero, finding his expression to be serious, his eyes dark. He nodded at me, his hands reaching for mine. "I do love you Duo, I don’t know why, I suppose no one knows the ultimate reason for it. I love you physically, mentally and with every part of me, inside and out." He leaned down, kissing me in a serious way, his mouth gently touching mine before he pulled back, watching me expectantly.

I felt like I was on display suddenly, everyone silent, gazes locked on me as I pulled back a bit, wondering if I could put my feelings on show like that, share how I felt with anyone other than myself. I cleared my throat, my palms beginning to sweat where they remained clasped in Heero’s.

"I... I love you Heero, but I think I do know why. My entire life, I’ve tried to... be myself, I’d always figured, love just wasn’t meant for me, no one kept my interest, no one stirred my thoughts or body. Then I met you, and I felt everything I’d never felt before. I haven’t been able to tell you, because I think I’ve been afraid of what might happen. I didn’t want to share this feeling, if it could end tomorrow. But, I guess that’s the point, right?" I glanced around to find everyone’s rapt attention on me. Venus smiled encouragingly, gesturing to go on.

"Even if I don’t know how long I get to have you, be with you, and love you, it shouldn’t matter, because I’ll have gotten to be with you this long, so every moment longer should be held close." I leaned over, running my fingers along his cheekbone, memorizing the texture of his skin for what seemed the millionth time. "This love is perfect."

"And that," Aphrodite giggled, "Is that."

Venus rolled her eyes, gently pushing the girl down onto the pillows and idly pressing a foot to the middle of her chest to keep her there. "It also calls for a drink, congratulations both of you. As an aspect of love, I can tell you truly, what you have doesn’t come around often."

"Does this mean we can go back to what we were doing now?" whined one of the boys, moving towards Pan with an eager expression.

"Yes," Venus said with exasperation, pushing both of them over towards the still silent goat god. "You two are constantly horny, maybe he can give you some satisfaction, and I’m so tired of your whining." One of the boys gave her a middle finger salute, collapsing half on top of Pan and squirming around until he was cradled in his arms. The other one pounced and managed to also find a seat on Pan’s lap. They both immediately began ignoring everything else in the room, eager little hands sliding under the demi-god’s clothes.

"Now that they’re occupied, what would you like to drink? Perhaps some sensory wine? Dio said it was quite good."

I shook my head vigorously. "Oh no, no thanks, I’ve had enough of that stuff to last me the rest of my life." Venus nodded, removing her foot from where it still kept Aphy pinned to the pillow. "How about a little something I cooked up myself?"

Heero perked up, his fingers releasing mine and sliding about my waist, pulling me until I sat on his lap much like the blondes sat in Pan’s. "Really?"

"Mhm, remember the Escalation Enhancement wine?"

Heero grinned at her. "How could I forget, I was flying for three days after just a few sips."

I frowned at him, sending him a questioning look. "Flying? Surely you don’t mean literally?"

"Literally and figuratively, Escalation Enhancement wine sent your mind on a high that dragged your body with it, the happier you were, the higher you got." Heero responded, pulling closer, nuzzling the side of my neck contentedly.

"Sounds like extreme happiness could be dangerous," I said, wondering what the point to such a thing might be.

"Well, it was somewhat dangerous, so we modified it with Dio and Bacchus, working out a different form. We Gods often get bored, so we like to share interests, and mess with humans." She shrugged eloquently, and held out her hand, a bottle appearing in it. Laying the bottle on the floor space between the mounds of pillows, she proceeded to create delicate wine glasses made of some odd sparkling multicolored glass, setting them in front of herself and nestling one between Aphy’s legs. "This new wine is a escalation of mind, motion, and mood. A sip of it will open you to sensations, half a glass and you’ll start to feel very... *free*, more than that, and you will become intoxicated with the nearest attraction."

I stared at her, wondering if every god I met would be so confusing. "What?"

"Oh just try it, ok?" She poured a bit into each glass, taking special care to spill some on the lap of the goddess collapsed beside herself.

I eyed the glass full of the strangely amorphous and shifting liquid. What could it hurt? I glanced over at Pan, noticing he was completely occupied with handfuls of now naked boy gods. More power to him, I raised my glass, smiling. "To love in all its forms."

"Love." Everyone echoed.

And we drank.

***

To tell anymore would most likely be redundant, let us say that the blond boy gods and Pan were not the only ones to end up naked that evening. It was only after we finally went home, to my house and life in America, that I began writing this account, trying to forever memorize the many events that changed my life so much.

I practice my magic daily, and have yet to introduce my relatives to my husband. We got married in France, on the trip home. Deciding a spiritual binding would suit us. The love gods and goddesses performed the short ceremony, Dionysus and Bacchus in attendance. It was rather a simple service, a piece of our hearts was removed from us and exchanged, obviously something only a goddess of love could do correctly. It signified the complete unity between us. Or at least that’s the way Heero explained it to me later.

My editor suggested I write something about my trip, Wufei Chang never being one to hold out on his personal views, he practically ordered me to write about all of this. What has surprised me is that in writing this account of my vacation and meeting the one person I’ll ever love, I’ve come to understand many things that hadn’t been clear before.

Heero has always loved me, just as I loved him the moment he popped out of his bottle. I’ve asked Heero if there is a god of Fate, but he refuses to answer everytime. I merely tease him though, since I found out something interesting about Heero while we stayed with the love troupe in Amsterdam. Heero isn’t merely a Djinni; he’s also half a god, somewhat akin to Pan.

I married Fate, which explains everything, don’t you think? Except of course, if there’s a god of Fate, then who’s Destiny?

Wufei, my editor as I have mentioned, says that perhaps I am, he thinks that only Fate and Destiny could mix together so well. I told him to stuff it or I’d introduce him to the gods. Funny thing, he actually seemed to like that idea.


End file.
